National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology of the Republic of Moldova

In 2018, the number of users who accessed mobile Internet via 4G technology increased by 50.3% compared with 2017 and reached 1 million 40.5 thousand. 938.3 thousand of this total browsed the Internet via smartphones, while 102.1 thousand used dedicated mobile Internet (modems/cards). At the same time, the data of the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) on the evolution of this market in 2018 shows that the total number of broadband mobile Internet users (based on 3G, 4G and dedicated access technologies) increased by 21.3% and is estimated at 2 million 948.1 thousand.

According to the statistics provided to ANRCETI by the three mobile communications providers (Orange Moldova, Moldcell and Moldtelecom-Unite), the penetration rate of mobile broadband services in 2018, per 100 people, increased by 14.6 percentage points and reached 83%.

The same data show that the traffic generated by mobile Internet users through smartphones increased by 59.2% and reached 35 million 631.1 thousand GB, whereas the traffic generated by users of dedicated Internet access increased by 12.2%, and totaled 49 million 50 thousand GB. In 2018, a user browsing the Internet on a mobile phone generated an average of 1.6 GB of monthly traffic and a user who used dedicated Internet access - 12.9 GB monthly traffic.

As a result of the increase in the number of users and traffic, the total volume of sales from broadband services grew by 16.5% compared to 2017 and was estimated at 1 billion 58.5 thousand lei. Thus, the average monthly revenue (ARPU) per mobile broadband user via a smartphone increased by 15.3% to 34 lei and the ARPU per dedicated Internet user increased by 0.1 % and amounted to 78.4 lei.

At the end of 2018, the three providers of mobile broadband services shared the market as follows: Orange Moldova - 62.7%, Moldcell - 27.7% and Moldtelecom - 9.6%.

March 25, 2019