National Landscape FYROM

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National Landscape - FYROM
Prof. Borislav Popovski, Ph. D. President of
Management Board MARNet borop_at_etf.ukim.edu.mk
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Overview of Telecom/IT market

• Macedonian Telecom (MT) is the biggest provider
  of telecommunication services in FYR Macedonia
• Well developed infrastructure in local, regional,
  national and international level, based on
  optical rings with SDH and MPLS technology
• MT offers a whole variety of services (local,
  long distance and international voice and data
  services, including basic voice and cellular -
  GSM service, GPRS, Internet access, public
  payphones, ISDN and packet switched data)
• Mobile telephony market
• Mobimak (subsidiary of MT) GSM GPRS, 800 000
  subscribers
• Cosmofon (owned by OTE, Greece) GSM, 300 000
  subscribers
• Data and Internet
• Major provider MT (residential and small
  business customers dial-up access, ADSL, leased
  lines for business users)
• Other commercial providers UNET, ONNET,
  Macedonia Online (MOL), SONET, NEOTEL
• Non-commercial ISPMARNet - offering internet
  services to academic society

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Overview of Telecom/IT market /2

• Regulation
• New Law on Electronic Communications was enforced
  in February 2005
• Compliant with EU recommendations for Electronic
  Communications
• Liberalization of telecom market
• New independent regulatory body established -
  Agency for Electronic Communications
• Trends
• Expected telecom market development similar other
  countries immediately after the liberalization,
  with a strong influence of the incumbent operator
  (MT)
• Utility companies (electric power, railways, )
  started building their own national
  telecommunication infrastructure new players on
  the market in near future
• Cable TV companies own local cable infrastructure
  (copper and fiber) in most of the cities
• Few ISP providers build national infrastructure
  based on wireless technology
• ISPs and cable TV companies offer international
  voice services (VoIP)

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MARNet Experience Metro Optical Network in
Skopje
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MARNet Experience Metro Optical Network in
Skopje /2

• Implementation Ocotober 2004 September 2005
• Owned by MARNet (University Sts Kiril and
  Metodij)
• Total length 17 km
• Optical cable with 24 fibers
• More than 90 already completed
• Segments to all major campuses in Skopje metro
  area
• MARNet premises, Main University campus,
  Faculties of Law, Economics, Philology and
  Philosophy
• Faculties of Electrical and Mechanical
  Engineering, Technology, Drama Arts
• Faculties of Civil Engineering and Architecture
• Faculty of Pedagogy
• Medical Campus
• Campus of Natural sciences
• Faculties of Agriculture and Forestry

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Future plansGoals

• National optical connectivity among all
  university cities in FYR Macedonia
• Skopje
• Stip
• Bitola
• Prilep
• Ohrid
• Tetovo
• International connectivity to all neighboring
  countries
• Serbia and Montenegro
• Bulgaria
• Greece
• Albania

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Future plansPlanned optical links
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Future plans How to do it?

• Problem 1 Very expensive and difficult to build
  own national optical infrastructure
• Problem 2 Dark fibers (DF) and lambdas currently
  not available on the market
• Possible solution(s)
• Lease digital lines from MT (enormously high
  prices)
• Lease DF from new player on the market that
  already build or plan to build a national and
  international optical infrastructure (MEPSO and
  Macedonian Railways)
• Lease DF from cable TV companies and other
  utility companies on a local level or build own
  metro networks, similar to Skopje metro optical
  network
• Planned period of implementation 2006-2007

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Electric Power Transmission Company MEPSO
Existing and Planned Optics over Power Lines
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Conceptual Topology to Support Data Exchange
between the National Dispatch Centers of SECI
Countries
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Macedonian RailwaysPlanned corridors for
installing optics
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Conclusions

• Recently liberalized and developing Telecom/IT
  market
• New players on the market with both
  infrastructure and services
• MARNet builds own metro optical network in Skopje
• Planned local, national and international optical
  connectivity of educational and research
  organizations (universities, institutes, schools,
  )
• Considering the development of the market
  (presence of few new DF owners in near future)
  and the positive regulation, it should be
  expected that the plans can be realized in the
  period 2006-2007