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

In nine months of 2018, the market for fixed broadband Internet access services increased significantly. Thus, the volume of revenues on this market increased by 6,5% compared to the same timeframe of 2017, reaching 975,9 million lei, while the number of subscribers to these services increased, compared to the end of 2017, by 3,9% and made up more than 608,1 thousand. As a result of this development, the average monthly revenue per subscriber (ARPU) for fixed Internet access services was 178,9 lei, up by 1,4%.

According to the statistical data submitted by ANRCETI by the 82 fixed Internet access providers, the revenues on this market segment increased due to the increase in the number of subscribers to high speed fixed Internet access services. In nine months, the number of subscribers connected via fiber optic technologies (FTTx) grew by 8,1% to more than 378 thousand, which represents about 62,2% of the total number of subscribers. At the same time, the number of subscribers connected via coaxial cable increased by 1,2% and was estimated at 6,9% of all subscribers, while the number of subscribers connected on basis of xDSL technologies decreased by 4,2% and was estimated at 30,4% of all subscribers, the share of subscribers connected by means of other technologies was 0,5%. Consequently, the penetration rate of fixed Internet access services, per 100 inhabitants, increased by 0,7 percentage points and reached 17,1%.

The biggest part of subscribers to fixed Internet access services – 53,1% of their total – have access and data transfer rates ranging from 30 to 100 Mbps, which are qualified as high speed access and data transfer rates, while 8,9% – use speeds above 100 Mbps. At the same time, 32,6% of subscribers have Internet access and browsing speeds between 10 and 30 Mbps, 2% – speeds from 2 to 10 Mbps and 3,4% – speeds up to 2 Mbps.

As a result of the evolution of this market, compared to the nine months of 2017, the following market shares were redefined according to turnover: Moldtelecom – 63,9%, Starnet Solutions – 21% Sun Communications – 3,8% and cumulative share of other suppliers – 11,3%.

December 7, 2018