The Agency for Electronic Communications announced a call Tuesday informing that companies should notify the Agency in writing by 10 May that they are interested in using the remaining free frequencies of the GSM 1,800 megahertz bandwidth for public mobile services.

The Agency's decision comes immediately after the Government decided to introduce a fourth mobile operator and after the third mobile operator, Mobilkom Austria, was granted the operating license.

Mobilkom Austria should begin operations in six months at the latest. Its rivals are T-Mobile Macedonia and Cosmofon, yet experts argue that the increased competition will not drive down rates of services unless interconnection rates are cut first.