Mobtel is one of Serbia's two mobile operators – the other is Telecom Serbia. Mobile penetration is about 55 percent of the 10 million population and subscribers are relatively split between the two operators, with Telecom Serbia taking a slight majority. Subscriber numbers is the biggest area of development in the Serbian market and the average annual growth is 20 percent.

There is slower growth, however, in the take up of new, more costly mobile services, so standard voice and data still remain dominant among Serbian consumers. This can perhaps be attributed to Serbia's developing economy.

But a desire to get new services into the Serbian market does exist. Ericsson is the main supplier to both operators, which run GSM networks including GPRS and EDGE, and the two operators are presently trialing 3G services. Triple play – telephony, internet and TV in one common infrastructure – has also been tested by Telecom Serbia.

Bo Anderson, President Ericsson Serbia and Montenegro, says developing the mobile market depends on establishing services beyond voice and SMS. "When operators implement a service it generally has a good impact on subscriber numbers," he says. "Both operators are fiercely competitive and naturally want a bigger chunk of the market."

A steady influx of new subscribers and intense price competition requires an operator to upgrade its network and continuously expand coverage and capacity in the most cost-efficient way. Ericsson Mobile Softswitch Solution meets this need and Mobtel has already introduced the solution to its network.

 
It functions by separating the control and transport layers, which allows traffic to travel through a network by the shortest path and most efficient coding. The introduction of layered architecture, with centralized operations and a common flexible core network, ensures a foundation for new consumer services. And, by enabling local switching, less traffic through the core produces savings in terms of rent, power and maintenance costs. An operator's core network operating expenditure can be reduced by as much as 50 percent.

Moreover, it allows the journey to an all-IP network to begin. As Anderson says: "Every operator wants to prepare for convergence between fixed and mobile telephony. And layered architecture supports this convergence as well as 3G. It confirms that the operator is thinking beyond today's situation."

Being at the forefront with new services, however, demands a market willing to adopt technological innovation. While Serbian consumers may be enthused by the idea of video calls and mobile TV they need the means to pay for such services.   
 
"In such a developing market it takes time for consumers to accept these types of services, but they will," says Anderson. "It still proves, however, the willingness of the operator to expand the market and move in a positive direction for the future."