| One Albania sh.a. | |
| Type: | Private |
| Predecessor: | One Telecommunications ALBtelecom |
| Location: | Tirana, Albania |
| Industry: | Telecommunications |
| Products: | Mobile Telephony Wireless Broadband Landlines Internet Solutions Mobile IPTV |
| Revenue: | €119.3 million (2011) |
| Num Employees: | 420[1] |
| Owner: | Antenna Hungária |
| Parent: | 4iG |
One Albania sh.a[2] is a telecommunications company that operates in Albania. It was founded as Albanian Mobile Communications (or AMC) and was part of the COSMOTE Group since 2000. In 2015, the company joined the Deutsche Telekom group after which it was rebranded as Telekom Albania.
In September 2020, the company's name of registration changed from Telekom Albania to One Telecommunications, starting the transition to a new brand.[3] In January 2023, Albtelecom and One merged as one company known as One Albania and as of March 2023 the new company has taken on the same brand as One Montenegro.[4] In March 2023, One changed its formal registered name from One Telecommunications to One Albania.
The company was established as a state-owned company, named Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC), in November 1995, and started commercial operations in May 1996, thus being the first mobile operator in Albania. Instructed by Aleksandër Meksi, the team working on it was led by project manager Bashkim Kasa. The company was privatized in August 2000. Cosmote acquired 85% of AMC's capital share, through COSMO-HOLDING ALBANIA S.A., COSMOTE acquired 97% of the owned subsidiary.[5] [6] On 16 January 2019, OTE part of Deutsche Telekom agreed to sell the company, at the time branded as Telekom Albania, for €50 million to Albania Telecom Invest, a company owned by the Bulgarian Vivacom owner Spas Roussev and Albanian-born entrepreneur Elvin Guri.[7] [8]
On 10 March 2022, the Albanian Competition Authority approved the sale of ONE Telecommunication in favor of the Hungarian company 4iG. On 21 March, the company itself announced the acquisition of 99.899% indirect stakes in One Telecommunications. This is the second acquisition of a telecommunication company in the Albanian market, following that of ALBtelecom by 4iG, explaining that these two companies are complementary in the Albanian market.[9] [10] Following their acquisition of the telecommunications operations in Albania, Montenegro and Hungary, 4iG had an agreement to transfer the ownership of these companies to Antenna Hungária raising then its stake at the company to 76%[11] [12]
The display name of One is One.al, though it might appear on some phones simply as Telekom.al or AMC.
When COSMOTE acquired AMC, the company had 11,000 subscribers actually making outgoing calls. In August 2000, AMC launched Albakarta and in December 2001 AMC customer base exceeded 273,000 customers and in 2009 it had reached a customer base of 1.9 million. Currently, the company's network covers 99.6% of the population and 95% of the geographical area. In 2011, AMC's customer base decreased to 1.8 million.[13]
In 2011, AMC entered the Albanian landline market, the second company in Albania that offers landlines in all countries.
AMC was the second mobile operator that provided 3G technology in Albania. In September 2011 the Albanian government awarded the second 3G network license to AMC for € 15.1 million ($20.6 million) outbidding Eagle Mobile which offered 12.9 million euros.[14] [15] In January 2012 AMC Launched 3G services in Albania, only 3 months following the 3G license acquisition. In June of the same year, AMC 3G infrastructure extended to approximately 95% of the country.
In March 2015, AMC gained a 4G service license, with commercial operations in the middle of 2015. It was the second company to offer 4G LTE services in Tirana and Southern Albania. Also, the company was one of the first companies in Europe that launched LTE-A technology Cat4 up to 150 Mbit/s download speed.
The company is an official partner to several worldwide used apps, such as AirBnB, Deezer, Evernote, Magisto, etc. In addition, AMC has been awarded for its Business Excellence and Social Contribution (2013-5th Conference of Infokom, Tiranë): AMC was part of ICT Coalition for a Safer Internet for Children and Young (2012–2013).
When Plus, the fourth-largest mobile network provider, ceased operations in Albania, Telekom Albania (now One Albania) agreed to buy 50% of the frequencies that Plus used to operate, alongside Vodafone Albania.
In September 2019, One was awarded the 2×10 MHz frequency zone of 811 MHz-821 MHz/852 MHz-862 MHz by Electronic and Postal Communications Authority for 7.44 million euros. In 2020, One claimed that their 4G network covers the 98.1% of total population, the largest coverage in Albania.
In 2005, its revenues exceeded €137 million.[16] In 2007 AMC's revenues reached 176.2 million Euro, 16.7% higher on a yearly basis. The company's EBITDA grew by 20.1% in 2007 on a 62.0% margin, while net income increased by 22.1% year-on-year, with the net income margin at 34.6% for 2007. During Q3 2008, AMC’ EBITDA margin stood at 67.4%. In 2011, AMC revenues stood at €119.3 million
Albania as per Q1 2019 has 3.66 million subscribers, out of which there are 2.5 million active users (101% penetration rate). An active user is the number of users that communicated in the last three months.[17]
The regulatory authority for telecommunication in Albania is the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority.
| Rank | Operator | Technology | Subscribers (in Millions) | Ownership | MCC / MNC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vodafone Albania | GSM-900/1800 MHz (GPRS, EDGE) 2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSPA+ 800*/1800/2600 MHz LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro | 1.787 (Q1 2019) | Vodafone[18] | 27602 | |
| 2 | One Telecommunications (Formerly Telekom Albania) | GSM-900/1800 MHz (GPRS, EDGE) 2100 MHz UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSPA+ 1800/2600 MHz LTE, LTE-A | 1.261 (Q1 2019) | Albania Telecom Invest[19] | 27601 | |
| 3 | ALBtelecom Mobile (Formerly Eagle MOBILE) | 0.613 (Q1 2019) | ALBtelecom | 27603 |
In 2017, operators changed the duration of their monthly packages to 28 days instead of 30. The matter was investigated by the Authority and the operators were ordered to resume the 30-day duration once again.
In 2019, the Albanian Competition Authority intervened after Vodafone Albania, Telekom Albania, and Albtelecom increased their tariffs by ALL 200 and doubled the minimum recharge value from ALL 100 to ALL 200. The move sparked strong reactions from consumers who felt that the high price increase across three of the main providers was unfair. The action was reported to the Competition Authority. The three companies took action to lower the prices, following the instructions given by the agency.