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

The statistical data about the evolution of the fixed line market published by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) shows that in the first quarter of the year, the revenues from fixed telephony services continued to decrease against the slight increase in the number of subscribers. Particularly, it made 253,9 million lei, which is a 9% decrease compared to the same timeframe of 2013 (-25,2 million lei). The number of fixed line subscribers grew slightly - 0,1% (964 subscribers) and made 1 million 222,4 thousand.

According to fixed line providers’ reports, the increase in the number of subscribers occurred due to alternative fixed line providers that connected over 4,4 thousand new subscribers, while the client base of JSC "Moldtelecom" decreased by more than 3,5 thousand. As of April 1, 2014, JSC "Moldtelecom" had about 1 million 111,6 thousand subscribers, the 22 alternative providers - over 110,7 thousand. The fixed line penetration per 100 inhabitants increased over the rate recorded at the end of 2013, by 0,05% and was over 34,4%.

In the first quarter of 2014, the total voice traffic in fixed line networks decreased by 11,7% and showed 703 mil. minutes, while the average monthly traffic per subscriber (MoU) dropped by 18,5% - to 282 minute (4 hours 42 minutes).

Due to lower traffic and number of subscribers, the revenues of JSC “Moldtelecom" from the fixed line services decreased compared to the corresponding period of 2013 by 10,7% and made 239,7 million lei. Meanwhile, the aggregated income of the 22 alternative fixed telephony providers increased by 31,8% up to about 14,3 million. Under these conditions, the average revenue per user (ARPU) dropped by over 10% down to 69,3 lei. The ARPU of JSC "Moldtelecom" was 71,8 lei (down 9.9%), that of alternative providers – 43,77 (up 1,8%).

Following the development in terms of revenues, the market shares by turnover were as follows: JSC „Moldtelecom” - 94,4%, reduced by 1,7%, cumulated market share of alternative providers increased the same amount and reached 5,6%.

More information on the developments of the fixed line market in the first quarter of 2014 are available on: www.anrceti.md, section Statistical Data.

June 4, 2014