Wednesday, June 15, 2005, the National Regulatory Authority for Communications published on its website the second part of the Report on the electronic communications sector for the period January 1 – December 31, 2004 – data regarding leased lines services, Internet access services, mobile radio-communications services and services of re-transmission of audio-visual programmes. This set of statistical data adds up to the description of the Romanian market of electronic communications services end-2004, complementing the Report on the Fixed and Mobile Telephony published last week.
Upon processing and analysing the data reported by the providers of electronic communications networks and services, ANRC established that, between 2003 and 2004, the total number of internet access services registered in the end-users segment increased by 92.4%. Thus, by the end of 2004, there were 980,364 Internet end-users, as compared to 509,308 by the end of 2003.
This development is partly due to the increase by 121% of the number of active providers on the market of Internet access services; 515 providers of such services were operational on the market at the end of 2004.
Table1. The number of active providers on the market of Internet access services,
itemised by support, between 2003-2004
|
| 31.12.2003 | 30.06.2004 | 31.12.2004 |
|
Total number of active providers of which provide: | 233 | 367 | 515 |
| a) dial-up access | 145 | 166 | 160 |
| b) coaxial cable access | 56 | 68 | 72 |
| c) fibre optic access | 52 | 72 | 109 |
| d) radio access | 121 | 170 | 219 |
| e) xDSL access | 65 | 78 | 93 |
| f) access by other means | 124 | 226 | 333 |
The most widely used means for the provision of Internet access services are traditional telephone lines (dial-up), fibre optic, and radio. Other significant Internet access means are co-axial cable, satellite, twisted metallic pairs leased lines, power lines.
Concerning the bandwidth used, the number of broadband connections (at a speed equal to or exceeding 128 Kbps) as well as the number of narrowband connections grew, in absolute values, in 2004, as compared to 2003. Furthermore, the share of each of these two types of connections out of the total number of Internet access connections remained relatively the same: at the end of 2004, 39.04% represented broadband connections, while 60.96% – narrowband connections.
Table 2. The number of Internet access connections, itemised by bandwidth.
Number of dedicated Internet access connections.
|
| 31.12.2003 | 30.06.2004 | 31.12.2004 | |||
|
| Abs. | % | Abs. | % | Abs. | % |
| No. of connections itemised by bandwidth, of which: | 509,308 | 100 | 650,140 | 100 | 980,364 | 100 |
| a) narrowband connections | 313,202 | 61.50 | 402,958 | 61.98 | 597,581 | 60.96 |
| b) broadband connections | 196,106 | 38.50 | 247,182 | 38.02 | 382,783 | 39.04 |
| No. of dedicated connections | 60,736 | 108,705 | 156,811 | |||
Abs. = absolute value
Significant growth was registered also by the dedicated Internet access connections: by the end of 2004, their number (156,811) was 2.58 times greater than the number of dedicated connections registered at the end of 2003 (60,736). Coaxial cable is the main support used by the providers of Internet services for dedicated connections (57% of the total dedicated connections were offered by means of this support).
The statistical data reported to ANRC by the providers reveal the rise of the penetration rate of the services for the re-transmission of audio-visual programmes in the rural area, i.e. from 14.27%, by the end of 2003, to 22.90% by the end of 2004. In the urban area, the penetration rate of the services for the re-transmission of audio-visual programmes maintained the growing trend.
At national level (rural and urban areas), the providers of services for the re-transmission of audio-visual programmes reported a number of 3,111,882 subscribers by the end of 2004, 13% more than the value registered by the same indicator at the end of 2003.
Further details on the values of the main indicators of the telephony market are available on the ANRC website, Report on the electronic communications sector, for the period January 1 – December 31, 2004 – data regarding leased lines services, Internet access services, mobile radio-communications services and services of re-transmission for audio-visual programmes.