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

The statistical data on the evolution of the fixed voice market in 2018, aggregated by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI), demonstrate the continuous decrease of the main indicators of this market. Thus, the total number of subscribers decreased by 35.6 thousand (-3.1%) compared to 2017 and was equal to 1 million 108.2 thousand, the total traffic volume decreased by 248.9 million minutes (-15.7%) and was equal to more than 1 billion 338.9 million minutes, whereas the total volume of sales on this market decreased by 138.6 million lei (-19.9%) and was estimated at 556 million 853.8 thousand lei. As a result of this evolution, the average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) decreased by 17.6% down to 41.2 lei. The ARPU recorded by JSC Moldtelecom was 44.1 lei (down by 18.2%) and the ARPU of alternative providers - 17.1 lei (down 5.5%).

According to the data submitted to ANRCETI, the smaller number of subscribers was determined by the decrease of the subscribers' base of the 23 active fixed voice service providers. Thus, the number of subscribers of alternative providers decreased by 6.4%, making 117.7 thousand, and the number of subscribers of JSC Moldtelecom decreased by 2.7% and was estimated at 990.5 thousand. As a result of this evolution, the penetration rate of fixed voice services per 100 population dropped by one percentage point, compared to 2017 and was equal to 31.2%.

The volume of fixed voice traffic declined, as a result of lower volumes of types of traffic. Thus, the traffic to international networks decreased by 31.2%, the traffic to other fixed networks - by 15.8%, the traffic to mobile networks - by 11.8%. As a result of this evolution, the average monthly voice traffic per user (MoU) decreased by 12.3% to 156 minutes (two hours and 36 minutes).

At the end of 2018, Moldtelecom's market share, according to the volume of registered sales, was 95.5%, and the share of alternative providers - 4.5%.

March 26, 2019