Globaltel looking for its place in Serbia’s mobile phone market – First virtual operator offering number renting, free conversations, watching TV…

As mobile phones were arriving to the Serbian market, the landline phone system was losing its significance. Then arrived smart devices with even smarter apps and slowly weaned users off classic calls and text messages.

An average user, already used to a constant technological progress, always expects more. The existing companies, therefore, keep enhancing their offer all the time, and, occasionally, new players arrive to the market as well.

One such new player appeared in the Serbian telecommunications field in mid-December. Globaltel is the first virtual operator in Serbia and, as the company says for eKapija, they are ready to compete with the best.

As they say, they are entering the game with an ace up their sleave unifying all the most important services offered by the competition, but also some new ones, so far unseen in Serbia. People at Globaltel, whose engineers have been dealing in telecommunications for more than a decade, developing various TC products for numerous telecom operators worldwide, explain that they’ve decided to start operating in Serbia as the local market lacked a product such as theirs.

– You are now able to use services of one of the three operators, call and receive calls, send text messages… You can also use Viber, WhatsApp, Skype to exchange instant messages, send files etc. However, it’s nearly impossible to do all that through a single product – the company says.

Globaltel, in fact, wants to be just that. When the user first installs the app, the system automatically allocates a number with the 0677 prefix to them for free. The number allows the user to communicate with other users of the application (app to app calls) and receive calls from the networks of other landline and mobile phone operators. These services are free.

The application also offers the possibility of calling and sending messages towards other operators, in the country or abroad, with a purchased credit. The company especially emphasizes that the price of these calls in the local traffic and towards 199 operators in 67 countries is RSD 9.9 per minute, as well as that the total price of the call is visible on the screen at any point during the conversation.

Furthermore, Globaltel users can watch more than 40 TV channels on their phones.

Prices of renting numbers from 37 countries from RSD 100 up

One of the biggest advantages of Globaltel, the company says, is that the app allows for owning several numbers simultaneously.

– All that the user needs to do is to choose another number in the app. The number is rented for a month and is a great solution for people who need several phone numbers for business or other reasons, but who do not wish to carry numerous devices along with them. They are also a good solution when, for example, you are selling your car and do not want to leave your personal number in the ad. Once the car is sold, the additional number can be cancelled. After the “parking” period, the number is returned to the base and is available to other users. There’s also the possibility of keeping the number but being unavailable from it until you need to use it again.

Additional numbers from abroad can also be bought. At this moment, numbers can be bought from around forty countries. This option, they say at Globaltel, is especially interesting for the diaspora, but also for business people.

– This way, your clients in, say, Chile can call you at the local tariff, paying as much as they would for any other call within their country. Your company practically gains local presence in the countries it operates in that way – they say at Globaltel for eKapija and announce expanding the offer to other countries as well.

For now, Globaltel functions as an app, without a SIM card, which means that constant internet access is needed for it to work. Nevertheless, the company announces the sale of SIM cards in early 2017.

Furthermore, it will be possible to transfer a number from other telecom networks in Serbia to Globaltel, while keeping the current number. Postpaid packages, which might be especially interesting to corporate users, will also be included in the offer.

– Our target group at the moment are primarily people who are already using smart phones and similar apps, young business people who need several numbers or who are doing business outside the country, as well as, of course, the diaspora – explains Jelena Cakic, Marketing Manager of Globaltel

Secure data, data usage low

Already in the first seven days, more than 30,000 users activated their Globaltel numbers. Goran Markovic, the company’s Sales Manager, says that they are very pleased with the results so far.

– In a country with seven million residents with three big telecom operators, one shouldn’t expect miracles, but we believe that there’s room for us – Markovic says and adds that it will take time for users to discover the advantages of Globaltel.

The company reminds that they have all the necessary permits for operating in Serbia. It took around thirty days to get a permit from RATEL, but acquiring the complete necessary documentation took about a year.

Regarding data safety, Globatel says that they are adhering to the local legislative in the field. Although, as they say, the local regulations do not allow for the end-to-end encryption such as used by some other foreign services, they emphasize that all user data and communication are absolutely secure.

Furthermore, over-the-limit internet use shouldn’t be a problem either. Even though the company is proud of the fact that they offer HD audio, they say that they’ve taken care that, for example, a minute of a conversation uses only around 0.5 MB.

They also add that, once Globaltel SIM card become available, users will be able to use their 3G internet, which they are planning to make as affordable as possible.

Globaltel was founded in August 2015. The majority share (55%) is owned by Pink International Company, whereas 45% belongs to the Belgrade-based company Procescom.

In other countries, virtual operators have been operating for years and their market shares in those countries reach as much as 20%. Telekom Srbija, for example, has a virtual operator in Austria – Mtel Austria – whose services are primarily directed at our diaspora in the country.

Virtual mobile phone operators differ from classical ones in that they don’t buy licenses for using frequencies, but rent an already present mobile phone network. In the case of Globaltel, the network in question is Vip Mobile. The same network has been rented by the company Mundio Mobile, which should, judging by the announcements, also start operating in Serbia soon.

Milos Vlahovic

Globatel doo Beograd

Procescom d.o.o. Beograd

Pink media group doo Beograd

A1 Srbija d.o.o. Beograd

Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd

Viber Media S.à r.l.

WhatsApp Inc. California

Skype Technologies S.A. Luxembourg

RATEL Beograd

Mundio Mobile Limited United Kingdom

Mtel Austria

Mundio Mobile

Viber

WhatsApp

Skype

virtual mobile operator

renting numbers

phone TV

sending text messages

SMS

instant messages

mobile internet

phone internet

0677 numbers

app to app calls

roaming

diaspora

SIM card

SIM cards

prepaid

postpaid

Jelena Cakic

Goran Markovic

RATEL

data security

end to end encryption

data usage

3G internet