President Sali Berisha late last month launched Albania’s first cellular phone system on the eve of the country’s third free elections, when no political campaigning was allowed. The mobile phone system will be run by executives closely allied with Berisha. State-owned Albania Mobile Communications group has invested more than $8m to set up the network with equipment purchased from Alcatel Mobile Telephone Network GmbH. The state-owned Savings Bank put up as much as 75% of the money, with the rest financed by taxpayers’ money. Albania’s landline phone system is dilapidated and the country has begun overhauling the network and installing new exchanges, but the work is hampered by a desperate lack of cash. The 8,000 subscribers to the new mobile service will have to wait a few days after the election to use the cellular phones, which sell for up to $800 in Tirana. They have paid a registration fee of $1,000 and face monthly maintenance charges of $40. Local calls are charged at a minimum of $1 per minute; but with average monthly salaries of no more than $65, Albania’s mobile communications revolution appears to be confined to the country’s small group of newly-rich entrepreneurs.
