Regulatory agency forecasts electronic communication market to rise 5-8% this year

The communication market in Moldova has been affected less by the financial crisis than other sectors of the national economy. Whereas GBP dropped by 6.5 percent in 2009, sales on the electronic communication market, including mobile telephony, Internet and broadcasting, decreased by just 1.7 percent, totaling 5.6 billion lei, according to a report presented Tuesday by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communication and Information Technology (ANRCETI). ANRCETI director Sergiu Satnic said electronic communication sales last year accounted for 9.4 percent of the GDP. The agency ascribes the decrease in sales on the communication market to weaker sales in the fixed telephony sector, broadcasting sector and a reduced growth of sales on the telephony market sector. Although the sale trends on the four segments of the electronic communication market were different in 2009, the number of users continued to increase, said Sergiu Satnic. The crisis affected investment in the sector, as well, which reduced by 11 percent. Traditionally, the largest investors were Moldtelecom, Orage Moldova and Moldcell, with a combined share of 95.5 percent of the total investment. The second consecutive year ANRCETI found sales in the fixed telephony sector decreasing. International calls accounted for 50 percent of the sector's turnover. The most significant rise is sales – 62.4 percent – was shown by broadband Internet. Chisinau has over 100,000 Internet users, accounting for 64 percent of the total, followed by Balti, with 8,000 users. The district of Soldanesti has the fewest Internet users – 748. ANRCETI forecasts the market to rise by 5-8 percent this year, to a lesser extent on account of fixed telephony and to a greater extent due to Internet services.