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

In the first three months of this year, the total volume of revenues from activities in the electronic communications sector (mobile and fixed voice, mobile and fixed Internet, broadcasting and retransmission of audiovisual programs, other electronic communications activities) decreased compared to the first quarter of the previous year, by 4,8% and reached 1 bn. 493 million lei. These are data from the Report on the evolution of the electronic communications market in the first quarter of 2018, published on the official website of the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI).

This decrease was caused by the decrease in revenues from fixed voice services, transmission and retransmission of audiovisual programs, mobile voice, and revenues from other electronic communications activities. On the fixed voice market the sales decreased by 21,8% and totaled 143,1 million lei and that of the broadcasting and retransmission services of the audiovisual programs - by 10,2% and reached 58,9 million lei. The revenues of mobile voice market decreased by 5,4% to 749,1 million lei, while the revenues from other electronic communications activities decreased by 4,6%, estimated at 152,3 million.

During the same period, revenues from mobile and fixed Internet access services continued to notably increase, by 20,8% to reach 244,3 million lei, and by 5,8% to reach 315,1 million lei, accordingly.

The maintenance of negative trends in fixed and mobile voice markets is caused by changes in users' preferences from fixed to mobile voice and from mobile to alternative internet communications services that are cheaper or free of charge (OTT applications: Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, etc.). ANRCETI believes that this trend, which is also confirmed on European telephony markets, will become more prominent over the next two to three years, when most consumers use mobile communications services via smartphones.

ANRCETI has developed and published on its official web site quarterly reports on the evolution of the electronic communications market starting with 2012. The reports are based on the statistical data submitted to ANRCETI by electronic communications providers.

June 12, 2018