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

Statistical data on the evolution of mobile voice market in the first quarter of 2020, aggregated by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI), show that during this period, the volume of voice traffic in mobile networks increased, compared with the same timeframe of last year, by 2.4% and reached over 1.5 billion minutes, the total sales volume on this market segment increased by 0.7% and reached 746.4 million lei, and the total number of users of these services decreased, compared to the end of 2019, by 1.7% and was estimated at about 4.4 million.

According to data presented to ANRCETI by the three mobile providers (Orange Moldova, Moldcell and Moldtelecom - Unite), the sales increase occurred due to increased traffic to other mobile networks - 14.4%, totaling about 307 million minutes and the traffic generated in individual networks, which increased by 0.4%, making 1.1 billion min. As a result of this evolution, the average monthly traffic per user (MoU) increased, compared to the same period of last year, by 3.8% and reached 278 minutes (four hours and 38 minutes), and the average duration of a call was 2 min. In the first quarter 2020, an Orange Moldova user monthly consumed 318 minutes, a Moldtelecom user - 308 minutes and a Moldcell user - 203 minutes.

The decrease in the total number of mobile voice users was determined by the decrease in the number of Moldcell subscribers (-57 thousand) and Orange Moldova (-17.6 thousand). At the same time, Moldtelecom's subscriber base increased, in three months, by 709 users. Of the total number of subscribers, 3.5 million - were active mobile voice users, and about 851 thousand - passive users. As a result of this evolution, the penetration rate of mobile voice services, active cards (SIM, R-UIM, etc.), reported per 100 inhabitants, decreased by 3.7 pp. and showed 131% (the penetration rate is an estimate, as the population of the Republic of Moldova with their habitual residence, for the first quarter of this year has not yet been updated on the NBS website).

Consequently, the average monthly revenue per active user of mobile telephony (ARPU) compared to the first quarter of 2019, increased by 1.9% and amounted to 69.8 lei. Moldtelecom reported ARPU of 77.8 lei, Orange Moldova - of 72.7 lei and Moldcell - of 63.3 lei.

The market shares of the three mobile voice providers, by the turnover, were the following: Orange Moldova - 63%, Moldcell - 31% and Moldtelecom - 6%.

June 12, 2020