Fixed telephony continues to lose positions

In 2010, for the third year in a row, the value of the market of fixed telephony has decreased even though the number of subscribers to such services increased. Compared to 2009, the number of subscribers went up by 22,420, reaching 1.161 mil, while the sales of fixed telephony services decreased by 0.66%, summing up 1bil and 915 mil lei, as shown by the data provided by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI), quoted by Info-Prim Neo. In 2008, the sales on this market decreased by 5.8 % and in 2009 - by 12.7%. The Agency says the reduced sales on this sector of the market is caused by the intensification of alternative services that substitute fixed telephony, namely mobile telephony, IP telephony, as well as by the effects of the market maturing. The insignificant decrease in the value of this market in 2010 was determined exclusively by the reduction of sales operated by alternative providers of fixed telephony. The turnover of these service providers has decreased by 14.45 mil lei (39.4%) compared to 2009, summing up 22.18 mil lei. At the same time, the profits of SA „Moldtelecom” (with state capital) from the provision of fixed telephony services increased by about 2 mil lei (0.09%) making a total of 1 bil and 893 mil lei. As a consequence of these developments, the average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) slightly increased (by 0.67%) compared to 2009, reaching 143.52 lei. According to the data provided by the Agency, due to the fact that in 2010 the number of subscribers rose to 1.161 mil, the rate of penetration of these services, related with 100 residents, increased by 0.69 percentage points, reaching 32.61%. Of the 22,420 new users, registered in 2010, 13,420 have been connected to the Moldtelecom network and 9,000 to alternative operators of fixed telephony. On 31 December 2010, SA “Moldtelecom” had 1.1237 mil users, while alternative providers covered only 37,400. Based on the number of subscribers, SA “Moldtelecom” was covering 96.78% of the market on 31.12.2010. The remaining 3.22% was shared between 16 alternative providers operating on the market in the last year. Of these, the most important providers are Arax-Impex and Sun Communications, holding 0.97% and 0.77% of the market respectively.