As was the case with all sectors of the centralised socialist economy during the communist regime in Albania, the telecommunications sector was under complete state control. It is now evident that without investment and given the poor state funding, this part of the Albanian economy (as well as most other parts) is completely obsolete and unreliable. During the communist regime, telecommunications was simply public telephone communication with no other services such as paging, mobile phones or internet access. Telecommunications is one of the most important elements in a modern social and business environment. After the fall of the communist regime, the creation of new legislation was a pressing issue and recognising the crucially important role that telecommunications plays in the development of a market economy, Albania has embarked on creating a new legal framework that is encouraging to foreigner investors. On 23 November 1995, Albania passed its first democratic law on telecommunications.
This law was the first one to introduce new rules concerning services such as paging and mobile phones. This was the principal law governing activity in the telecommunications sector; it mainly determined the technical elements of such activities.
In contrast with a more recent law, the old one does not provide information and rules concerning many kinds of licences for telecommunications activity. The state, at that time, controlled and determined development policy at all stages through the State Post and Telecommunication Department and the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency. No appropriate legal regulations on procedures for granting voice telephony licences, lease line licences and facilities licenses were available. According to this law, a telecommunications operator can be defined as any commercial company licensed to utilise a public telecommunications network.
The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the State Post and Telecommunication Department were the bodies engaged in granting these licences.
The minimum requirements to receive a licence, according to the old law, were appropriate professional skill, financial strength, sufficient experience in the telecommunications field to meet the obligations deriving from the licence, personal capability, such as credibility, and permanent residence in Albania. The information requested by the regulator, according to this law, was a business plan, network diagram, district court decision for the incorporation as an individual or legal entity and information on staff development. The new law on telecommunications, enacted on 14 June Eastern European Forum Newsletter November 2000, provides that activity in the telecommunications sector shall be conducted in an atmosphere of fair competition and transparency and all parties, regardless of their legal form and ownership, shall enjoy equal rights and obligations.
Just like the old law, the new law allows private parties to be engaged in the telecommunication sector. There are no specific requirements concerning foreign individuals or legal entities. Foreign entities wishing to engage in telecommunications services should have a legal presence in Albania. This may be achieved through various ways such as establishing a representative office, a fully-owned subsidiary or a joint venture. Telecommunications licences are broken down into two categories:
(1) individual licences; or (2) general licences.
Individual licences are further divided into two classes:

Class 1 - includes mobile and fixed public telephone services nationwide. The number of such licences is set by a decision of the Council of Ministers.

Class 2 - includes public telephone services in rural areas, radio services, global mobile communications and any other service that requires access to the radio frequency spectrum.
General licences are granted in order to offer internet access, data transmission services, value added services, public card-telephone services and all other services not included in those listed under the class 1 or 2 individual licences. The Council of Ministers has the authority to expand the kind of services which may require licensing in the future due to technological evolution (Article 48). Class 1 licences are granted to winners of an international open bid for the licence (Article 49).
Following a proposal from the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency, the minister presents to the Council of Ministers the criteria and conditions on which the individual class 1 licences should be granted, as well as the procedures of the tender. The opening of the tender for the granting of licences is carried out on the order of the minister. Decisions on issuing individual class 2 licences and general licences qre made within 30 days after the submission of the request and payment of the relative fees. The new law provides that the licences are valid for the duration for ( which they are granted, not to exceed 25 years. The previous telecommunications law provided a maximum duration of 20 years. The class 1 licences are issued by the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency after issuance of the minister's order announcing the bid winner.
Class 2 and general licences are granted directly on the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency's decision. Unreasonable delay by the ministry or the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency in reaching a decision on a bid or application is strictly forbidden. It should be mentioned that the new law on telecommunications provides that on written approval from the licensing authority, the telecommunication licences may be subject to transferability agreements, lease agreements, exchange agreements or used as collateral for financing. The old telecommunications law did not allow the licence to be transferred. As seen from the above, the telecommunications legislation of the Republic of Albania provides foreign investors willing to develop and undertake telecommunication activities in Albania with the same conditions as nationals. The telecommunications law, in conjunction with the law on foreign investments in Albania, opens this sector as an attractive field for investment. The new law establishes better administration of the national frequency spectrum and grants the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency the necessary powers to implement international certification standards and procedures. However, in order to be much more successful and attractive to foreign investors, some changes should be added, such as shorter and more effective procedures in the issuance of licences. Furthermore, the new law is not clear on which minister is responsible for promulgating instructions and regulations and issuing licences or on the amount of the relative fees.