Broadband internet connections continue to grow while competition increases on telephony segment

The number of fixed broadband internet connections in Romania will increase this year on a similar trend to last year, when they went up by 12 percent to 2.8 million, according to Catalin Marinescu, the head of the National Communication Regulation Authority (ANCOM). The number of mobile broadband internet connections reached 2.5 million last year, up 66 percent on the previous year and ANCOM expects significant growth for both fixed and mobile broadband connections this year, Despite the high growth, Romania still lags behind the European average in terms of broadband internet connections, reaching just half the average rate in Europe. Meanwhile, traffic on the landline telephone network decreased by 14 percent and ANCOM expects a similar trend for this year, mainly triggered by promotional offers from the mobile telephony operators. The mobile telephony penetration in Romania is of 24 percent, which, according to ANCOM, doesn't leave too much room for growth. “The offers all suppliers have for mobile telephony target the retention of existing customers, so such offers will still exist due to the fierce competition,” said Catalin Marinescu. Promotional offers have made Romanian talk more on the phone. Last year, the average was of 140 minutes a day, which was 28 minutes more than the previous year. The text messages traffic doubles on the previous year, to 7.4 billion messages in 2009, reflecting an average of 25 text messages a month per user.