Last week the Croatian Post and Electronic Communications Agency (HAKOM) released a media statement in which they- presented results of their latest research on the Croatian telecommunication market and the changes occurred during Q3 2019. As a result, we bring you an overview of some key market trends.
During Q3 investments into mobile networks continued. During the first nine months total investments into mobile networks rose 40% YoY. Note that this increase can be attributed to the distribution of additional radio frequency spectres. Meanwhile, although investments into fixed network are lower than last year, it is encouraging to see rising investments into fibre optic cables. As a result, the number of FTTX ports rose by 30% YoY.
Turning our attention to the number of users, at the end of September 2019, there were 1,156,424 broadband connections in fixed networks, which is roughly 4% more than in the same period last year.
Number of Fixed Broadband Lines
At the same time the number of mobile telephony services subscribers rose by 1.3% YoY and amounted to 4,604,635.
Total Number of Mobile Telephony Subscribers
When looking at the amount of revenues generated, all fixed and mobile services recorded a 0.3% YoY increase in revenue. At the same time, total revenues from mobile telephony services declined slightly, driven by lower roaming revenues from domestic users in international networks and roaming of foreigners in national networks. Note that total roaming traffic is higher, but revenue is lower due to a fall in roaming prices in national and international networks.
Growth is also continually recorded in the pay-TV broadcasting market, with 56% of households using this service. IPTV is still the leading technology with a market share of about 52%of the total number of pay TV users, and the development potential of this part of the market is still significant.
Market share wise, Croatia has been witnessing a rather stable market for several years with HT dominating over their competitors with a market share of roughly 46%.
Market Share of Croatian Telecom Operators (%)
