HAKOM: More than HRK 2.5 billion invested into the electronic communications market last year

ZAGREB, 3 March 2016 – As a result of investments of operators on the electronic communications market amounting to more than HRK 2.5 billion, that is, as a result of direct investments into assets exceeding HRK 1.7 billion, including investments into upgrading and modernization of networks, the number of NGA connections (next generation access networks) in December 2015 increased by 26 percent compared to June 2015. The numbers are expected to grow in the upcoming period as well since Hrvatski Telekom d.d. announced the building of new fibre networks and HAKOM adopted a decision enabling it to speed up the modernization of the copper network with a view to offering NGA speed to end users. Investments into access network will enable the doubling of internet speed and contribute to further development of new services.
 
In spite of greater availability of broadband internet, distribution of broadband connections is uneven. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2015 penetration of mobile broadband was slightly over 23 percent. The greatest broadband penetration was recorded in the City of Zagreb where it reached around 31.5 percent, which is at the EU average. In order to reduce the digital gap between urban and rural areas and stimulate economic development and development of society in general, it is particularly important to enable the development of broadband internet in less populated and underdeveloped parts of Croatia. It is not in the operators’ business interest to invest into modern networks in such areas but Croatia has the opportunity to build networks with the support of the EU development funds. HAKOM’s aid programme has also helped decrease the gap by enabling target users from such areas, such as schools and healthcare institutions, to connect to broadband internet and by creating preconditions for connecting other users as well.
 
Due to the lack of the seasonal effect that was present in the previous quarter, the number of users and traffic in the mobile network decreased in the fourth quarter of 2015. At the same time, as a result of increased use of different communications services such as Viber, WhatsApp, Skype and others, the number of sent SMS and MMS messages has also decreased by approximately 11 percent compared to the same period of last year. Around 75 percent of Croatian inhabitants use their mobile phones to access the Internet. Considering the increased use of mobile internet and increased needs of users for greater data transfer speed, new technologies, such as LTE, are a precondition for future networking and, consequently, for economic development.

ABOUT HAKOM: HAKOM (www.hakom.hr) - Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries – ensures preconditions for a fair market competition, stable growth and environment for innovations in the electronic communications and postal services market. HAKOM protects users’ interests and the possibility of choice among various communications and postal services at affordable prices, defines sustainable competitive conditions for operators and service providers under fair conditions for return on investment, and provides support to economic growth, public services and the quality of life in the Republic of Croatia by using modern technologies. HAKOM’ strategic goals are: to promote regulation of the electronic communications and postal services market, to support growth of investments and innovations in the electronic communications and postal services market, to provide efficient use of limited resources, to accelerate the growth of broadband products and services, to provide affordable offers of communications and postal services, to provide protection and informing of users, to build an efficient and comprehensive information system, to define and implement efficient processes, and to acquire multi-disciplinary competencies in market regulation.