Rural areas try to catch up with urban zones on broadband internet connections in Romania

Romania's broadband internet connections was up 7 percent in 2013, to some 3.8 million, and around 60 percent of them ensured a data speed of over 30 Mbps, according to the communication regulation agency ANCOM. Most of these connections – 3.5 million – were for individuals, while 0.34 million for corporations and firms. Around 1 million connections were installed in rural areas, which continued their catching up and their dynamic increase – 13 percent year-on-year. The number of connections in urban areas – 2.8 million - were only 5 percent up year-on-year. The number of landline phone connections was also up, by 2 percent, to 4.7 million in 2013, fueled by an increase on the corporate side. Romanians spoke 5.1 billion minutes on the landline phones, down 7 percent, while preferring discussions on mobile phones more – which were up 6 percent, to 1.3 billion minutes of phone conversations. On average, a Romanian spoke one and a half hours a month on the fixed phone, 7 minutes less than in 2012. editor@romania-insider.com