Regulator expects 3-4% growth on e-communications market

In 2011 sales on the electronic communications market will rise 3% to 4 % to the amount of 6.3-6.4 billion lei. At the same time the growth pace on the market will slow down due to lower incomes from call termination services in mobile and fixed-line networks by 23-24% and from weaker sales on the fixed telephony market by 5-6%. This loss will be compensated for by a 10% rise in sales of mobile call services and a 20-22% rise in sales of data transmission and internet access services. The information was presented by, Vladimir Vozian, department head at the National ICT Regulatory Agency (ANRCETI), at a news conference on Monday. Last year, the total sales on the four electronic communications markets – mobile telephony, fixed telephony, data transmission and Internet access services, broadcasting and re-broadcasting – grew from 2008 and 2009 by 7.3% and 9.1%, respectively, amounting to over 6.1 billion lei in 2010. Vladimir Vozian noted that mobile services and broadband access services continued to be the main driving forces that contributed to the growth of the the e-communications sector increase. The first market saw a growth of 14% and the second of 25%. The number of mobile users increased by 13.7% to over 3.16 million, and the users of broadband Internet services by 46.4% to 0.39 million. The mobile penetration rate per 100 population increased to 88.8%, and that of broadband access services to 11%. The total number of users electronic communications services grew by over 11% to 4.82 million. 65.6% of these are mobile telephony users, 24% users of fixed telephony services, 5.6% users of Internet access services, and 4.8% users of multichannel TV services. Vozian said that for this year the Agency expects that the broadband Internet access and mobile telephony markets will continue to grow. The number of mobile telephony users is expected to increase by 10-12% to over 3.5 million, and the mobile penetration rate is expected to reach 98%. The number of broadband mobile users is expected to rise by 35-40% to 165 thousand, and the number of broadband users at fixed locations – by 30-35% to 350 thousand. The growth on the market of broadband services is attributed to the development of optic fiber networks, liberalization of access to Moldtelecom's infrastructure, as well as to a growing rise in the demand for these services.