Broadband Internet services gain popularity

In the first half of this year, the number of subscribers to broadband internet access services at fixed points has increased, relative to the end of the previous year, by over 29,800 (+8.4%), summing at 384,900, and the density rate of these services for every 100 residents reached 10.8%, reports Info-Prim Neo, quoting a communique from the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology of the Republic of Moldova (ANRCETI). Most subscribers were registered at Moldtelecom, namely 266,100. Companies Starnet and Sun Communications had subscriber bases of 66,300 and 20,700 respectively, and the rest of the operators on the market – 31,700. In the same period, the number of subscribers to mobile Internet access, through 3G mobile phone networks, has risen by 25,200 (+20.2%) and has surpassed the 150,000 benchmark, the density rate being 4.2% In the first half of 2012, the total revenues from providing services of data transmissions and Internet acces at fixed points has increased by 14% and reached 380.6 million lei. Most of this sum, i.e. 309.9 million lei was obtained from selling global network access services. The Moldtelecom revenues have risen by 19.2% , to 267.7 million lei, those of Orange Moldova by 12.7%, to 13.9 million lei, and Starnet sales have risen by 7.2%, to 55.8 million lei. The revenues of the other operators have fallen by 3.4%, down to 43.3 million lei. Meanwhile, the average revenue per person (ARPU), gotten by the fixed point internet access service providers, has fallen, relative to the first half of 2011, by 5.8%, registered at 136.7 lei. Orange Moldova and Startnet had an ARPU of 551.1 lei and 143.1 lei respectively. Moldtelecom reached an ARPU of 133.9 lei, and Sun Communications – 85.7 lei. In the first half of 2012, the market for data transfers and fixed point internet access had 53 operators. The largest actor on the market as of June 30 was Moldtelecom, with a registered 70.6% market share in terms of income.