Lucic for Newsmax Balkans: I Expect U.S. Support for a Third Mobile Telephony License in Kosovo and Metohija

In achieving these objectives, Telekom enjoys the support of the U.S. administration and financial institutions, said the company’s CEO Vladimir Lucic in an interview with Newsmax Balkans.

According to Lucic, over the past five years, Telekom Srbija has been intensively expanding cooperation with institutions and companies in the United States, following technological trends that, as he noted, are first shaped in the American market.

"Digital companies such as Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix dominate the global market. This cooperation is extremely important for our company as well, which strives to become a major player", Lucic told our television exclusively.

One of the concrete steps is Telekom’s entry into the U.S. mobile services market through the model of a virtual operator.

"Next year, we are set to launch a mobile operator over the AT&T network, as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). The approval of the U.S. regulator is required, and this was one of the topics discussed during the visit", announced Lucic, adding that Telekom will continue talks at the State Department as well as with congressmen.

Survival in Kosovo and Metohija

Speaking about priorities, Lucic emphasized the importance of Telekom’s survival in Kosovo and Metohija.
He recalled that, as he claims, two years ago the U.S. embassies in Belgrade and Pristina played a key role in thwarting Albin Kurti’s plan to shut down the company in Kosovo and Metohija.

"Today, we are still operating - around 30,000 households use our fixed and mobile services, and about 250 of our people are engaged there. We have launched an initiative to obtain a third license for mobile telephony, and I expect strong support from the American side", said Lucic.

According to him, Telekom is also building an investment platform for the domestic IT scene.

"With our startup financing fund, we want to attract U.S. funds in order to significantly increase the budget and support not only startups but also larger IT companies", he noted.

Cybersecurity

Part of these investments will be directed toward cybersecurity - an area in which Telekom aims for regional leadership in providing services to companies in the Western Balkans.

Foto: Tanjug/Jadranka Ilić

"Last year, we acquired a 51 percent stake in the leading domestic cybersecurity company. To be the best, we must rely on the best - and U.S. institutions and specialized organizations in this field actively share their expertise", Lucic added.

According to him, Telekom’s transformation is based on the application of artificial intelligence in three directions: multimedia production and content distribution, internal processes and automation, and the formation of a strong engineering team.

"We want to hire around 500 young engineers specializing in artificial intelligence. This requires extensive cooperation with America, since AI development demands vast resources - both electrical and computing - and I believe the U.S. will be one of the world’s largest AI hubs", said Lucic.

A Signal of Trust

On the financial front, Lucic highlighted that "almost 40 percent" of U.S. investment firms participated in Telekom’s bond issue on the Dublin Stock Exchange, interpreting this as a sign of trust.

"We have excellent cooperation with Bank of America. We are among the first operators to secure support from U.S. development and export institutions, which speaks to the confidence in the transparency of our development. We are also in discussions with JPMorgan", the Telekom CEO stated.

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