As a Balkan country, Macedonia is considered an attractive enough direction for terminating VoIP traffic. In the former Yugoslavia, there is high mobile penetration and low competition in this segment of the telecommunications market. Although the population of Macedonia is small (2.08 million), local residents use several SIM-cards.
To date, the mobile penetration rate in the country has reached 113% (as of 2017). This means that in Macedonia there are more than 2.3 million connections to GSM networks. Since the country is a candidate for EU accession, the government directed efforts to develop the telecommunications sector and prepare the market for creating a competitive environment.
At the moment, the leader in the mobile sector is the GSM operator One.vip owned by Telekom Slovenije and Telekom Austria. The number of connections is more than 1.15 million. The second place in the market is One.vip's rival: T-Mobile, which Makedonski Telekom uses as the brand. The subscriber consists of more than 1.14 million users. MVNO (virtual GSM operator) Lycamobile also works in Macedonia. Its attempts to enter the cellular services market in the country have already failed several times but it is still working. SIM-cards can be found free of charge at Lycamobile outlets.
Prepaid starting packages of different operators can be purchased in their branded stores if you produce your IDs. However, it is possible to buy SIM-cards at street kiosks or from dealers who sell new cards for termination. The average cost of the starting package in Macedonia is $5, with $4-5 credit provided immediately. In fact, your expenses to purchase SIM-cards are minimized or even next to nothing.
The standard rate on local calls is about $0.07 per minute. However, local GSM operators offer prepaid customers even more profitable packages. By installing the VoIP call termination system in Macedonia, you can make over $500 via each channel equipment.
