Telekom Srbija said that, through this strategic partnership, it will benefit from Vodafone’s global knowledge and experience as well as procurement capabilities.
Vladimir Lučić (pictured), CEO of Telekom Srbija, said: “Telekom Srbija is a regional company with a long tradition of successful business operations. Over the last two years, we have focused on the transformation of the company which is aimed at ensuring that we stand side by side with the most developed companies in the world.”
Vodafone’s Diego Massidda, CEO of its partner markets and carrier services operation, said: “We are delighted to welcome Telekom Srbija to our partner market family and look forward to working together to bring the benefits of our knowledge and expertise to their customers in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina.”
Lučić said: “We are confident that our cooperation with Vodafone, one of the world’s leaders in this trade, will provide us with access to all important resources in the sphere of digital transformation, and make it possible for us to increase the efficiency of our operations, optimise costs and improve customer experience.”
The move comes six years after the government of Serbia abandoned attempts to privatise Telekom Srbija. Aleksandar Vučić, then prime minister but now president of Serbia, said in December 2015 that none of the six bids were high enough. “I am not happy with this decision,” said Vučić at a press conference. “I wish we had a better price.”
Vodafone set up its partner markets division in 2002. It has now expanded to over 30 partners in over 40 countries – from Chile to Russia, Iceland to New Zealand and now Serbia. Agreements vary from Vodafone branding to product branding, roaming and service re-sale.
