The number of mobile broadband Internet (smartphones, modems/cards/USB drives) users in the first nine months of this year rose by 22% on the end of 2015 to over 1.7 million. According to the statistics of the ICT regulator (ANRCETI), the wireless Internet access penetration rate rose to 50%, which means that each second Moldovan uses this service, IPN reports.

The data provided by the three mobile phone carriers - Orange Moldova, Moldcell and Moldtelecom–Unite – the number of users of Internet access services based on the 4G technology rose the most in the period – from over 132,999 to more than 296,000. The volume of traffic increased by 19% compared with the corresponding period last year.

The sales of mobile Internet services in nine months grew by 20.2% on 2015 to 516 million lei. All the three mobile phone carriers reported rises in the sales of such services. The average revenue per user of dedicated mobile Internet was 77.2 lei.

The statistics for January-September this year show that the three companies had the following market shares by turnover: Orange Moldova – 58.8%, Moldcell – 26.9% and Moldtelecom – 14.3%.

The Internet access services based on the 3G technology were launched in 2008, while the 4G services in 2012. The 4G networks ensure Internet connection speeds of up to 300 Mbps, while the 3G networks of up to 42 Mbps.