In the electronic communications market, revenues and investments in mobile networks are increasing

The number of connections through fiber optic technologies is significantly growing, reaching over 232 thousand by the end of the third quarter, with 4.713 million different SIM cards in use in the mobile network.
 
ZAGREB, December 20, 2023 - The total revenues generated in the electronic communications market in the first three quarters of 2023 amounted to 1.284 billion euros, representing an increase of almost nine percent. Revenues from network and line rental services increased by 28.3 percent, and revenues from mobile networks by just under 12 percent. According to market indicators, there has been a decrease in investments in fixed networks but an increase in investments in mobile networks. In addition to investments in the radio frequency spectrum, expected investments in fiber optic and cable networks, or investments in Very High Capacity Networks (VHCN), have continued.
 
In the third quarter, the migration of users to fiber optic technology continued, influencing a nearly 33 percent growth in the number of connections through fiber optic technologies, with 232,599 users availing such services. At the same time, compared to the same period last year, there is a visible decline in the number of connections on copper infrastructure by five percent. These connections are often replaced by VHCN connections, and the share of users with broadband connections with very high capacity is slightly less than one-third of all users. The share of connections with speeds exceeding 100 Mbit/s has reached almost 39 percent.
 
For publicly available telephone services in fixed networks, there has been a continued decline in revenues, the number of connections, and total outgoing traffic. Comparing the same quarter last year, total outgoing traffic decreased by 16.8 percent, total revenues decreased by 10.3 percent, amounting to 30.9 million euros, and the number of telephone connections decreased by 2.8 percent to 1.212 million. The number of users with contracted independent telephone services has decreased by 12 percent.
 
Mobile network services in the third quarter, which includes the summer months, follow trends from previous years. Revenues increased by 10.4 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 148 million euros, and the number of users increased by 1.5 percent to a total of 4.713 million different SIM cards in use.
 
Total revenues from pay television services amounted to 32.2 million euros and increased by 6.2 percent compared to the third quarter of the previous year. This was mainly contributed by higher revenues from IPTV services, which grew by more than 12 percent, while a small part of the revenue growth is attributed to the increasingly popular proprietary OTT service of operators. Revenues from other pay television technologies are decreasing. Although the total number of connections is slightly lower in this quarter, the number of IPTV connections and proprietary OTT service connections is higher compared to the same period last year. The number of IPTV connections increased by 2.2 percent in a year to 491 thousand, and OTT connections increased by 22 percent, reaching just over 50 thousand.
 
Data on the electronic communications market are available on the website of the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) at the following link.