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

The statistical data on the use of mobile broadband in nine months of 2013, published by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) show that users in Moldova continue to prefer mobile broadband (via USB modems and data cards). During this period, the number of subscribers to mobile broadband, compared to the end of 2012, increased 54.8 thousand (+30.7%) and constituted 233.3 thousand, while the number of fixed Internet – by 32.2 thousand (+7.7%), reaching 449.4 thousand.

According to the data offered by the three broadband access providers, the total number of active connections increased over the end of 2012, by 13.7% and reached 1 billion 488 million. Of these, 1 billion 255 million were active connections via mobile phones and 233.3 million – connections at mobile locations via modems and data cards. In the same period, the total volume of mobile broadband increased over the nine months of 2012, by 29.1% and totaled 14 million 716.5 thousand GB. The average monthly traffic generated by a mobile broadband subscriber was 8.7 GB.

The data submitted by the 52 providers of fixed Internet access show that most of the 32.2 thousand new subscribers (about 26.2 thousand) were connected to the network via fiber-based technologies (FTTx - fiber to the premises), the rest (2.6 thousand each) – via xDSL (Digital Subscriber Line) and cable (DOCSIS). According to the same data, the number of fixed Internet access connections reached 449.4 thousand. The fiber-based connections recorded the most significant increase (+13.8%, reaching 215 5 thousand connections).

In terms of fixed Internet speed, the aggregated data available with ANRCETI show that according to the tariff plans, chosen by subscribers, most of them – 188.6 thousand (or 42%) – enjoy Internet speeds ranging from 2 to 10 Mbps. 60.4 thousand (or 13.4%) of subscribers access the Internet at speeds up to 2 Mbps, 77.7 thousand (or 17.3%) – 10 - 30 Mbps, 117.3 thousand (or 26,1%) – from 30 - to 100 Mbps and 5.3 thousand (or 1.2%) – over 100 Mbps.

Following the increase in the number of subscribers and mobile broadband traffic, the revenues of the three mobile network providers from selling mobile broadband increased, over the nine months of last year, by 17.5% and amounted to about 190.3 million lei. The total sales volume by the 52 service providers of data transmission and fixed Internet services increased by over 20.7% and made about 703.2 million lei, the largest part of this sum – over 575.2 million lei – from selling Internet access services. The monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) of mobile and fixed broadband made 103.7 lei and 146.8 lei accordingly.

During the reporting period, the three providers of mobile broadband services shared the market as follows: (by turnover) JSC "Orange Moldova" – 47%, JSC "Moldcell" – 25.3% and JSC "Moldtelecom" – 27.7%. The fixed broadband market was shared as follows: biggest market share JSC "Moldtelecom" (71.3%), LLC "Starnet" (15.4%), and JSC "Orange Moldova" (3% ).

Other data on the evolution of the broadband mobile in the nine months of 2013 is available on ANRCETI website: www.anrceti.md, statistical data section.

December 3, 2013