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

In nine months of 2015, the majority of new subscribers to fixed Internet access services preferred to connect to the optical fiber networks, which provides high speed Internet access. The statistical data about the evolution of the fixed Internet access market published by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) show that in the reporting period the share of subscribers to fixed high speed Internet exceeded 50%.

According to the data aggregated by ANRCETI, in the timeframe January – September 2015the number of new subscribers connected to the Internet via optical fiber technologies (FTTB and FTTH) increased compared to the end of 2014, by 19,3 thousand (+6,9%) and reached 279,3 thousand, the number of subscribers connected via coaxial cable – by 2,2 thousand (+5,8%) and exceeded 38 thousand. Meanwhile, the number of subscribers connected to the networks via xDSL technologies dropped by 7,2 thousand (-3,6%) and reached 204,5 thousand, while the number of those using other technologies equaled 2,1 thousand. At the end of September 2015, 53,3% of the total number of subscribers used the FTTx technology, 39% –xDSL technologies, 7,3% –coaxial cable and 0,4% - other technologies.

Per total, in nine months of 2015, the number of subscribers to fixed Internet services increased over end of 2014 by 14,4 thousand (+2,8%) and exceeded 523,9 thousand, whereas the penetration rate per 100 population grew up to 14,7%.
Most subscribers to fixed Internet access services – 50,5% of their total number – have access to 30 Mbps Internet, of which 45,3% - between 30 and 100 Mbps and 5,2% - over 100 Mbps. 30,2% have access to speeds between 10 and 30 Mbps, 11,2% - speeds between 2 and 10 Mbps and 8,1% - up to 2Mbps.

According to ANRCETI data, of the 75 active fixed Internet service providers, Moldtelecom Starnet and Sun Communications Solutions had biggest sales. Moldtelecom sales increased by 51 million lei and reached 497,6 million. Starnet Solutions sales increased by 27,8 million lei and constituted 176,8 million lei, those of Sun Communications increased by 9,4 million lei and reached 35.6 million lei. The cumulative volume of sales of the other 72 providers increased by 1,8 million lei and amounted to about 69,3 million lei. Following this development, the average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) increased by 5,5%, showing 167,4 lei.

The sales increase on this market segment is mainly due to the increasing number of subscribers and the use of attractive offers for high speed internet access, containing several bundled services.

As a result of the developments on the market for data transmission and Internet access at fixed locations during the reporting period, the market share of Moldtelecom by turnover was 63,4%, Starnet Solutions – 21,5 %, Sun Communications – 4,3% and the cumulative share of the other 72 providers – 10,8%.

Other data on the evolution of the market for Internet access at fixed locations in nine months of 2015 are available on ANRCETI Web page: www.anrceti.md, Section Statistical Data.

December 1, 2015