HAKOM: The Electronic Communications Market Records Growth – More Than 40 Percent of Users on VHCN Networks

The market records a revenue growth of 4.6 percent with a significant increase in the number of users on very high capacity networks (VHCN).

Zagreb, June 25, 2024 - The Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) has published the latest market indicators for electronic communications for the first quarter of 2024. Total revenues in the electronic communications market amounted to EUR 423.6 million, representing a growth of 4.6 percent compared to last year. Revenues from mobile network services increased by 5.8 percent, while revenues from fixed network services increased by 2.6 percent.

TELEPHONE SERVICES
In the mobile network telephone services market, the number of users and retail revenues are increasing. Compared to the same period last year, the total number of users has increased by 2.2 percent, reaching 4,553,953, while total retail revenues have risen by 10.8 percent to EUR 124 million, despite a 2.8 percent decline in outgoing traffic. Roaming traffic, meanwhile, decreased by 7.3 percent.
Fixed network telephone services continue to experience a decline in the number of users, traffic, and revenues. Compared to the first quarter of last year, the number of users decreased by 1.72 percent to 1,109,776, outgoing traffic decreased by 15.43 percent, and revenues dropped by 5.2 percent, totalling EUR 29.4 million.
 
INTERNET ACCESS SERVICES
The internet markets in mobile, fixed, and satellite networks continue to grow. Total revenue from internet access in the first quarter amounted to EUR 191.4 million, growing by 9.4 percent over the year. The largest share is from mobile network access, whose revenue increased by 8.2 percent to EUR 134 million, with the total number of users rising by 3.5 percent to 5,463,778.
Satellite communications are just gaining commercial momentum, with a relatively small user base of 2,081, but growing at an annual rate of 185 percent. Revenue from this service in the first quarter of 2024 amounted to EUR 243,000, growing at a rate of 220 percent.
In the fixed network, both the number of connections and revenues are increasing. A total of 1,120,888 fixed connections at the end of the first quarter is the result of a 3.6 percent growth over the year, with revenue increasing by 12.1 percent to EUR 57.2 million. The migration of users to fiber optic technology connections continues with an annual growth rate of almost 36 percent, while the number of connections on copper infrastructure decreased by 5.5 percent. As a result, the share of VHCN broadband users in the total number of connections is 40.6 percent. With the growth in the number of VHCN connections, speeds are also increasing. Thus, the share of users with contracted speeds of 100 Mbit/s or more has increased to 41.9 percent.
 
PAY TELEVISION
In the pay television market, both revenues and the number of connections increased in the first quarter. Compared to the same period in 2023, revenues are up by 3.9 percent, amounting to EUR 32.9 million, and the number of connections has increased by 1.5 percent to 922,032. IPTV technology connections remain the most prevalent (54.10%), but the greatest growth is seen in OTT services, with a connection growth rate of 38.7 percent.
Data for the 1st quarter of 2024 can be found at the following link.