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

Statistical data on the evolution of mobile voice market, aggregated by the National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI), show that in the nine months of this year there was a slight increase of voice traffic in mobile networks, compared to the same period last year, by 0.8% and amounted to 4 billion 650 million minutes. At the same time, the volume of sales by suppliers decreased by 2.3% and made 2 billion 358 million lei, while the total number of subscribers decreased, compared to the end of 2018, by 1.7% and made up 4 million 371.6 thousand.

According to data presented to ANRCETI by the three mobile providers (Orange Moldova, Moldcell and Moldtelecom), the volume of voice traffic in Orange Moldova networks increased by 6 million minutes (+0.2%), in the Moldcell networks - by 2.2 million minutes (+0.2%), and in Moldtelecom-Unite networks - by 29 million minutes (+10.6%). As a result, the average monthly traffic per user (MoU) of mobile voice services increased, in comparison to the similar situation last year, by 5.1% and constituted 279 minutes (four hours 39 minutes), with the average duration of one call was 1.8 minutes.

The reduction of the total number of mobile voice subscribers was caused by the decrease of the subscriber base of Moldcell - by 4.5%, constituting 1 million 454.5 thousand, of Orange Moldova by 0.9%, constituting 2 million 515.6 thousand users at the end of the reporting period.

At the same time, the subscriber base of Moldtelecom-Unite increased by 4.4% and reached 401.5 thousand. Of the total number of subscribers, about 3 million 639.8 thousand are active mobile voice users, making a share of 83.3%. Following this evolution, the penetration rate of these services per 100 inhabitants reached 135.7%.

In the same timeframe, the average monthly income per active mobile user (ARPU) increased, compared to 9 months of 2018, by 1.4% and constituted 73.6 lei. Moldtelecom reported 81.3 lei ARPU, Orange Moldova - 78.8 lei and Moldcell - 63.7 lei.

The market shares of the three mobile providers, by revenues, were as follows: Orange Moldova - 63.9%, Moldcell - 30.3% and Moldtelecom - 5.8%.

November 28, 2019