Romania powers ahead in the broadband stakes

bealtine

(note to DCENR readers(hi guys) At least Romania can manage to correctly
report their internet users by excluding mobile users as can most of the rest of the OECD countries)

Broadband connections in Romania reach 2.1 mln


The number of internet subscribers in Romania reached almost 5.8 million in 2007, up 76 percent compared to the previous year, while the number of broadband internet connections (excluding dial up and mobile access) reached 2.1 million, thus doubling the penetration rate to 10 percent, according to a statistical data report by the National Regulatory Authority for Communications and Information Technology (ANRCTI). UTP/FTP cable connections account for the biggest share, with almost 55 percent of the broadband internet connections, followed by coaxial cable connections with 22 percent and xDSL connections with 17 percent, which registered the highest annual growth, of over 270 percent compared to 2006. Fixed telephony registered a smaller increase, with the total number of access lines growing by 1.4 percent to 4.26 million in 2007, of which 1.2 million lines were installed by alternative providers. The lines deployed by alternative providers in 2007 rose by 50 percent, their market share extending to almost 29 percent by the end of last year. The traffic volume achieved by the alternative providers' customers grew by 44 percent, while the total voice traffic originated in the public fixed telephone networks grew 2 percent, from 8.3 billion in 2006 to approximately 8.5 billion minutes in 2007. The mobile telephony penetration rate reached 106.2 percent, registering 22.9 million users of active SIM cards. Out of these, 67 percent used prepaid cards, whereas around 33 percent or 7.5 million customers pay a monthly subscription. Two-thirds or 5.1 million subscribers are natural persons and approximately 2.4 million are corporate customers. Roaming voice traffic registered significant growth of 87 percent in 2007, mainly generated by the introduction of the European maximum tariff in September 2006. The total number of subscribers to audio-visual retransmission programme services rose by 19 percent, mainly due to the consolidation of the cable alternative services use with direct-to-home satellite digital transmission up 177 percent year-on-year. The penetration rate of the audio-visual retransmission programme services per households reached 71.7 percent, up by 9.3 percentage points compared to half-2007, and by 11.6 percent versus year-end 2006.

crawler

I didn't think Romania was an OECD country?

Your point remains valid though...

paulm17781

I still reckon Eircon's ridiculously high line rental for bad quality copper is what is keeping us back / showing mobile growth.

bealtine

crawler wrote: »

I didn't think Romania was an OECD country?

Your point remains valid though...

Romania is not an OECD country but at least they use the OECD metrics correctly...
and they have resisted the temptation to add in irrelevant figures in a vain attempt to
make themselves look "better".
Way to go the poorer countries of eastern europe...some day we'll catch up with them.

Sherifu

W00t!

PixelTrawler

I read a report recently that estimated the Britain was 5 years behind France in BB rollout and speed.

How far are we behind Britain?

I was very disappointed Eamon Ryan was left in communications.... that certainly wont help us catch up on Romania, and with cash in the country drying up things are only going to get worse...