4 Jul 2011Romania Broadband Overview

After the state initiated the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in early 2003 Romania has become one of the most dynamic and competitive telecom markets in Eastern Europe. In H1 2009, 16 new agreements of access to the local loop were concluded between the incumbent and alternative providers. As of end of June 2009, 47 alternative fixed telephony providers were operating in the country. In the same period, the alternative providers controlled a 41.5 per cent share of the fixed public telephone network including VoIP managed access lines. The incumbent has been losing ground as its market share fell by over 10 per cent since June 2008.

In the retail market, during H1 2010 the fixed telephony segment witnessed an evolution similar to that of mobile telephony, registering a slight decrease in the number of subscribers and access lines along with slight increases in traffic. The number of subscribers reached 4.04 million (-0.4 per cent), whereas the number of access lines stood at 4.68 million (-1 per cent). This decrease determined the decline of the penetration rates to 21.8 per cent among population and 52.8 per cent among households.