2007 Europe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Russia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine

Last updated: 21 Nov 2007 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 153

Analyst: Stephen McNamara

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Publication Overview

This report covers Russia and the neighbouring countries of Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. Trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, Internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media including VoIP, VoD and IPTV developments. Subjects include:

Market and industry analyses, trends and developments
Facts, figures and statistics
Industry and regulatory issues
Research, Marketing, Benchmarking
Major Players, Revenues, Subscribers, Network deployments
VoIP, ADSL, ADSL2+, FttH, WiFi, WiMAX, IPTV, VoD, triple play, digital TV, DTTV, i-mode, 3G

Executive Summary

BuddeComm’s Annual Publication ‘2007 Europe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Russia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine’ profiles the emerging telecom markets of Eastern Europe’s most populous region. Rapid modernisation and development is transforming the region as alternative operators deploy alternative infrastructure and launch competing services. Incumbent and alternative operators alike are rolling out new technologies including Next Generation Networks, FttH and WiMAX to offer new services or cost-effectively expand availability of existing ones.

Infrastructure deployments are supporting the launch of broadband and convergence services across the region, resulting in rising broadband penetration levels and the birth of IPTV and triple play services. This is particularly the case in the massive market that is Russia, with alternative and regional incumbent operators across the expansive nation promoting ADSL or fibre-based services.

Fragmented cable TV markets exist in all countries, with quite a number of cable TV networks requiring investment to launch digital cable, broadband and/or voice services. Mature mobile markets exist in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus to a lesser extent, while new competitors are appearing in Ukraine and Moldova.

This report is essential reading for anyone seeking a succinct overview of the telecom markets of Eastern Europe’s most populous region, including an assessment of sector liberalisation and privatisation, together with the key regulatory measures which affect competition and investment. Significant alternative operators in liberalised markets are introduced and new infrastructure deployments covered. The emerging broadband market in each country is examined, detailing subscriber figures, service providers and technologies used. All major mobile operators in the region are presented, along with essential financial and operational data while developments in each country’s digital TV and convergence market are also highlighted.

Key Highlights

Broadband availability has proliferated across the region. ADSL services are widely available. FttH and/or WIMAX networks have been deployed in all four countries. FttH/FttB networks have been deployed in previously unserved areas to provide future-proof last mile networks or high-bandwidth alternative infrastructure in high-density areas. WiMAX has been utilised by incumbents to extend last mile access into unserved low-density areas while alternative operators have deployed WiMAX to rapidly gain last mile access to customers, particularly in Russia and Ukraine where competitive last-mile access regimes are lacking.
Triple play services are offered by a number of operators in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova, available via ADSL and FttH/FttB.
Growth in Russia’s mobile market has peaked, leading major operators into a global search for new growth opportunities and confrontation with established western European telcos. Domestic growth prospects still exist due to underdeveloped mobile broadband and content markets. WCDMA 3G network deployments and services have been launched by the three national mobile network operators, which are now tasked with migrating millions of GSM users to 3G platforms to entice take up of high-speed mobile broadband and content services. For the country overview, see chapter 1, page 1.
Ukraine’s incumbent has finally launched WCDMA 3G services, threatening growth prospects of the country’s minor CDMA operators, some of which possessed the country’s fastest mobile broadband networks. A competing operator has executed a well-thought strategy by deploying a GSM-based unlicensed mobile access network in conjunction with a nationwide WiMAX network. For the country overview, see chapter 4, page 102.
Both fixed-line and mobile penetration levels are rapidly rising in Moldova, with total mobile market revenue expected to surpass fixed-line market revenue during 2008/09. Both total telecom market revenue and investment is thriving, posting 2006 annual growth rates of 33.6% and 23.3% respectively. For the country overview, see chapter 3, page 85.
Belarus’ government has relaxed ownership controls on its telecoms market, allowing a western European telco to acquire a majority stake in the country’s second largest mobile operator. For the country overview, see chapter 2, page 68.

Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine - mobile subscribers and penetration - 2007

Country	Subscribers	Penetration
Belarus	6,288,000	61.1%
Moldova	1,511,000	33.8%
Russia	159,250,000	111.0%
Ukraine	51,241,000	110.2%

(Compiled by BuddeComm, various industry sources)

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.


1.	RUSSIA
1.1	Key statistics
1.2	Telecommunications market
1.2.1	Overview of Russia’s telecom market
1.2.2	Statistics
1.3	Regulatory environment
1.3.1	History
1.3.2	Regulatory authority
1.3.3	Telecom sector liberalisation in Russia
1.4	Fixed network operators in Russia
1.4.1	Overview of operators
1.4.2	Svyazinvest
1.4.3	Golden Telecom
1.4.4	Multiregional Transit Telecom
1.4.5	TransTeleCom
1.4.6	PeterStar
1.4.7	Altimo
1.4.8	Sistema
1.4.9	Comstar-UTS / MGTS
1.4.10	Synterra telecom
1.5	Telecommunications infrastructure
1.5.1	Introduction
1.5.2	Local/regional
1.5.3	National
1.5.4	International infrastructure
1.5.5	Infrastructure developments
1.5.6	Telecoms and IT
1.6	Internet market
1.6.1	Overview
1.6.2	Internet access locations
1.6.3	ISP market
1.7	Broadband market
1.7.1	Overview
1.7.2	Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
1.7.3	Other DSL developments – xDSL, HDSL, SDSL
1.7.4	Cable modems
1.7.5	Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) networks
1.7.6	Broadband Powerline (BPL)
1.7.7	Wireless broadband
1.8	Convergence
1.8.1	Introduction
1.8.2	Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
1.8.3	Triple play
1.8.4	Overview of broadcasting market
1.8.5	Digital TV
1.9	Mobile communications
1.9.1	Overview and analysis of Russia’s mobile market
1.9.2	Regulatory issues
1.9.3	Mobile technologies
1.9.4	Major mobile operators
1.9.5	Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
1.9.6	Mobile voice services
1.9.7	Mobile data services
1.9.8	Mobile content and applications
2.	BELARUS
2.1	Key statistics
2.2	Telecommunications market
2.2.1	Overview of Belarus’ telecom market
2.3	Regulatory environment
2.3.1	History
2.3.2	Regulatory authority
2.3.3	Telecom sector liberalisation in Belarus
2.4	Fixed network operator in Belarus
2.4.1	Beltelecom
2.5	Telecommunications infrastructure
2.5.1	National telecom network
2.5.2	International infrastructure
2.5.3	Infrastructure developments
2.5.4	Telecoms & IT
2.6	Internet market
2.6.1	Overview
2.6.2	ISP market
2.6.3	Internet access locations
2.7	Broadband market
2.7.1	Overview
2.8	Convergence
2.8.1	Overview of broadcasting market
2.8.2	Regulatory issues
2.8.3	Digital TV
2.9	Mobile communications
2.9.1	Overview of Belarus’ mobile market
2.9.2	Regulatory issues
2.9.3	Mobile technologies
2.9.4	Major mobile operators
2.9.5	Mobile data services
2.9.6	Mobile content and applications
3.	MOLDOVA
3.1	Key statistics
3.2	Telecommunications market
3.2.1	Overview of Moldova’s telecom market
3.3	Regulatory environment
3.3.1	Background
3.3.2	Regulatory authority
3.3.3	Telecom sector liberalisation in Moldova
3.4	Fixed network operators in Moldova
3.4.1	Overview of operators
3.4.2	Moldtelecom
3.4.3	InterDnestrCom
3.5	Fixed voice market
3.5.1	VoIP services
3.6	Telecommunications infrastructure
3.6.1	National telecom network
3.6.2	International infrastructure
3.7	Internet market
3.7.1	Overview
3.7.2	ISP market
3.8	Broadband market
3.9	Convergence
3.9.1	Overview of broadcasting market
3.9.2	Digital TV
3.10	Mobile communications
3.10.1	Overview of Moldova’s mobile market
3.10.2	Regulatory issues
3.10.3	Mobile technologies
3.10.4	Major mobile operators
3.10.5	Mobile voice services
3.10.6	Mobile data services
3.10.7	Mobile content and applications
4.	UKRAINE
4.1	Key statistics
4.2	Telecommunications market
4.2.1	Overview of Ukraine’s telecom market
4.3	Regulatory environment
4.3.1	History
4.3.2	Regulatory authority
4.3.3	Telecom sector liberalisation in Ukraine
4.4	Fixed network operators in Ukraine
4.4.1	Overview of operators
4.4.2	Ukrtelecom
4.4.3	Datagroup
4.4.4	Eurotranstelecom
4.4.5	Golden Telecom Inc
4.4.6	Farlep
4.4.7	Wireless Local Loop (WLL) operators
4.5	Telecommunications infrastructure
4.5.1	National telecom network
4.5.2	International infrastructure
4.5.3	Telecoms & IT
4.6	Internet market
4.6.1	Overview
4.6.2	ISP market
4.7	Broadband market
4.7.1	Overview
4.7.2	Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
4.7.3	Cable modems
4.7.4	Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH)
4.7.5	Wireless broadband
4.8	Convergence
4.8.1	Introduction
4.8.2	Overview of broadcasting market
4.8.3	Digital TV
4.9	Mobile communications
4.9.1	Overview of Ukraine’s mobile market
4.9.2	Regulatory issues
4.9.3	Mobile technologies
4.9.4	Major mobile operators
4.9.5	Mobile voice services
4.9.6	Mobile data services
4.9.7	Mobile content and applications
5.	GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS

Table 1 – Country statistics Russia – 2007
Table 2 – Telephone network statistics – 2006
Table 3 – Internet user statistics – 2006
Table 4 – Broadband statistics – 2006
Table 5 – Mobile statistics – July 2007
Table 6 – National telecommunications authority
Table 7 – Telecoms market revenue and annual growth – 2003 - 2006
Table 8 – Telecommunications revenue breakdown by service – 2006
Table 9 – ARPL and ARPU – 2001 - 2006
Table 10 – Fixed-line telecommunications revenue breakdown by service – 2006
Table 11 – Fixed-line telecommunications revenue breakdown by region – 2006
Table 12 – Market share of Moscow fixed-line market – June 2006
Table 13 – Svyazinvest revenue breakdown by sector – 2005 - 2006
Table 14 – Svyazinvest operating data: lines, revenue per line and yearly increase – 2006
Table 15 – Svyazinvest regional telecom operators financial data – January - September 2006
Table 16 – Dalsvyaz communications revenue structure by service – 2005 - 2006
Table 17 – Sibirtelecom communications revenue structure – 2006
Table 18 – Uralsvyazinform communications revenue structure and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 19 – VolgaTelecom communications revenue by service type and annual change – 2006
Table 20 – Rostelecom communications revenue by service type and annual change – 2006
Table 21 – Golden Telecom revenue, EBITDA, income and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 22 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 - 2006
Table 23 – Svyazinvest operators – Teledensity levels per operator – 2005 - 2006
Table 24 – Svyazinvest regional operators – Fixed lines installed and in use and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 25 - Svyazinvest regional operators - Digitalisation of rural and urban lines – 2005 - 2006
Table 26 – RTComm PoPs and MPLS-enabled POPs – 2001 - 2006
Table 27 – Significant Russian IT companies: revenue and employees – 2005
Table 28 – Registered number of domains – 2004 - 2007
Table 29 – Internet digital content market by service – 2006
Table 30 – Internet users and penetration – 1998 - 2010
Table 31 – Percentage of population using the Internet by location – 2001 - 2007
Table 32 – PC penetration – 2001 - 2006
Table 33 – PC and notebook sales by brand and market share – 2005 - 2006
Table 34 – Notebook sales by brand and market share – 2005 - 2006
Table 35 – Svyazinvest Internet revenue by service and year-on-year increase – 2006
Table 36 – Corporate VAS market revenue – 2003 - 2005
Table 37 – Market share of Corporate VAS providers – Q3 2006
Table 38 – RTComm revenue and CAPEX and annual change – 2001 - 2006
Table 39 – RTComm IP traffic growth – 2001 - 2006
Table 40 – Comstar-Direct Dial-up, broadband and IPTV subscribers – 2003 - 2006
Table 41 – Broadband subscribers and penetration – 2002 - 2006
Table 42 – Top 10 broadband ISPs subscribers – 2006
Table 43 – Market share of Moscow fixed-line broadband market – June 2006
Table 44 – Broadband subscribers of Svyazinvest operators and ISP ranking – 2006
Table 45 – Total handsets sold in volume and annual change – 2004 - 2006
Table 46 – Mobile operators, technology, subscribers and annual growth – July 2007
Table 47 – Mobile subscribers and penetration – 1995 - 2007
Table 48 – Total revenue, voice and non-voice ARPU – 2002 - 2005
Table 49 – Market share of revenue: MTS, MegaFon and VimpelCom – 2004 - 2006
Table 50 – Market share of EBITDA: MTS, MegaFon and VimpelCom – 2004 - 2006
Table 51 – Subscriber market share by mobile network operator – 2006
Table 52 – MTS revenue, OIBDA, income, margins and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 53 – MTS operation data – ARPU, Subscriber acquisition cost, MOU and churn – 2001 - 2006
Table 54 – MTS subscribers by country – 2007
Table 55 – VimpelCom ARPU, MOU and churn – 2001 - 2006
Table 56 – VimpelCom net operating revenue, OIBDA, net income and OIBDA margin – 2005 - 2006
Table 57 – MegaFon revenue, OIBDA, income, margins and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 58 – MegaFon revenue, EBITDA, net income and CAPEX – 2002 - 2006
Table 59 – MegaFon ARPU, MOU and churn – 2002 - 2006
Table 60 – Yeniseytelecom revenue, operating expenses, EBITDA, income and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 61 – Baikalvestkom revenue, operating expenses, EBITDA, income and annual change – 2005 - 2006
Table 62 – MTS and VimpelCom prepaid subscribers – 2004 - 2006
Table 63 – Mobile content market by service – 2006
Table 64 – Country statistics Belarus – 2007
Table 65 – Telephone network statistics – 2006
Table 66 – Internet user statistics – 2006
Table 67 – Internet subscriber statistics – 2006
Table 68 – Broadband subscriber statistics – 2006
Table 69 – Mobile statistics – March 2007
Table 70 – National telecommunications authority
Table 71 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 - 2006
Table 72 – Ecommerce sites by services provided – October 2006
Table 73 – Internet users and penetration – 1995 - 2006
Table 74 – Internet subscribers and penetration – 2000 - 2006
Table 75 – Registered top level domains (TLDs) as at April 2007
Table 76 – Broadband subscribers and penetration – 2003 - 2006
Table 77 – Mobile operators, technology, subscribers and annual change – July 2007
Table 78 – Mobile subscribers and penetration – 1995 - 2007
Table 79 – Country statistics Moldova – 2007
Table 80 – Telephone network statistics – 2006
Table 81 – Internet user statistics – 2006
Table 82 – Internet subscriber statistics – 2006
Table 83 – Broadband statistics – 2006
Table 84 – Mobile statistics – March 2007
Table 85 – National telecommunications authority
Table 86 – Total telecom industry revenue by service type – 2005 - 2006
Table 87 – Total investment by service type – 2004 - 2006
Table 88 – Total valid licences – 2006
Table 89 – Market share of operators by revenue – 2005 - 2006
Table 90 – Market share of operators by subscribers – 2005 - 2006
Table 91 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 - 2006
Table 92 – Rural and urban digitalisation rates – 2002 - 2005
Table 93 – Internet users and penetration – 1995 - 2006
Table 94 – Internet subscribers and penetration – 2000 - 2006
Table 95– Registered top level domains (TLDs) – April 2007
Table 96 – Total ISP and data market revenue by service provider – 2006
Table 97 – Broadband subscribers and penetration – 2001 - 2006
Table 98 – Broadband subscribers by access type – 2005 - 2006
Table 99 – Broadcasting sector revenue and investment – 2004 - 2006
Table 100 – Mobile operators, technology, subscribers and annual growth – March 2007
Table 101 – Mobile subscribers and penetration – 1998 - 2007
Table 102 – Originating and terminating mobile traffic – 2003 - 2006
Table 103 – Percentage of prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2000 - 2006
Table 104 – Total SMS and MMS messages sent – 2002 - 2006
Table 105 – Total SMS messages sent by operator – 2003 - 2006
Table 106 – WAP subscribers by operator – March 2006
Table 107 – Country statistics Ukraine – 2007
Table 108 – Telephone network statistics – 2006
Table 109 – Internet user statistics – 2006
Table 110 – Broadband statistics – 2006
Table 111 – Mobile statistics – March 2007
Table 112 – National telecommunications authority
Table 113 – Fixed lines in service - 1995 - 2006
Table 114 – Registered top level domains (TLDs) – April 2007
Table 115 – Internet users and penetration – 1995 - 2006
Table 116 – PC penetration – 2000 - 2006
Table 117 – Prime time audience share by broadcaster – 2004 - 2007
Table 118 – All day audience share by broadcaster – 2004 - 2007
Table 119 – Volia subscribers by service – June 2007
Table 120 – Mobile operators, technology, subscribers and annual change – March 2007
Table 121 – Mobile subscribers and penetration – 1995 - 2007
Table 122 – Market share by mobile network operator – 2006
Table 123 – UMC ARPU, MOU and churn – 2003 - 2006
Table 124 – Kievstar prepaid, postpaid and blended ARPU – 2004 - 2006
Table 125 – Kievstar monthly minutes of use – 2004 - 2006
Table 126 – URS ARPU, MOU and churn – 2005 – 2006
Table 127 – Kievstar prepaid subscribers – 2004 - 2006
Table 128 – Average monthly SMS messages sent – 2005 - 2006

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