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

According to the statistical data on the evolution of the mobile broadband market in the third qtr. of 2021, aggregated by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI), the total number of users accessing mobile broadband via 4G networks increased, compared to the end of 2020, by about 25.5% and was estimated at about 2.1 million, of which about 2 million - accessed mobile broadband services via smartphone, and the rest used the dedicated access (via modems/cards). At the same time, the total number of mobile Internet users (2G, 3G, 4G + dedicated) increased by 17.6% and exceeded 2 million 788 thousand. As a result of this evolution, the penetration rate of mobile broadband Internet access services, per 100 inhabitants, increased by 17.6 percentage points and reached 107.4%.

The data presented to ANRCETI by the three mobile communications providers (Orange Moldova, Moldcell and Moldtelecom - Unite) show that, during the reporting period, the traffic generated by mobile Internet users via smartphones increased by 77.1% and reached over 38.3 million GB, and the traffic generated by users of dedicated Internet access decreased by 11.5%, to over 14.9 million GB. A user of mobile broadband via smartphone generated an average monthly traffic (AUPU) of 5.1 GB, and a user of dedicated Internet access - an AUPU of 28.8 GB.

The total volume of revenues obtained by providers during the reporting period increased by 8% compared to the same period last year, and reached 338.8 million lei. Revenues from dedicated mobile broadband decreased by 17.5% and totaled 48.1 million lei. As a result, the average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) of mobile broadband via smartphone decreased by 8.1% and equaled 39 lei, and the ARPU of dedicated mobile broadband increased by 0.4% and amounted to 93 lei.

The market shares of the three providers of mobile broadband services, by turnover, were the following: Orange Moldova - 61.7%, Moldcell - 32.4% and Moldtelecom - 5.9%.

December 10, 2021