Bulgaria - Mobile Infrastructure, Broadband, Operators - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 14 Oct 2019 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 57

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Synopsis

Bulgaria has a mature mobile market with effective competition provided by Telekom Austria’s A1 Bulgaria, Telenor Bulgaria (sold to the PPF Group in August 2018) and the incumbent telco Vivacom. A new entrant, Max Telecom (also known simply as MAX), provided additional competition though the company fell into financial difficulty and stopped providing services at the beginning of 2017. Competition among network operators has intensified following the recent implementation of a streamlined mobile number portability process. In addition, customer preference for bundled services has put pressure on pricing and encouraged operators to offer generous voice and data packages. This in turn has impacted on operator revenue, compounded by a steady decline in the number of subscribers.

Vivacom is in the process of being sold, and the potential that a new owner will inject funds in network upgrades and develop services based on 5G should stimulate other market players to invest in their own service provision.

This report presents an overview of Bulgaria’s mobile market, including a variety of statistics and analyses covering the major operators, market developments and services offered.

Key developments:

A1 Bulgaria and Telenor Bulgaria trial 5G;
Vivacom extends the reach of its LTE-A service;
Regulator awards additional spectrum in the 1800MHz band for LTE use;
Regulator’s tender for spectrum in the 2.5-2.6GHz band fails to find bidders;
MNP takes off under new regulatory measures;
Report update includes the regulator’s market data for 2018, telcos’ operating and financial data to Q2 2019, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Vivacom, A1 Bulgaria (MobilTel), Telenor Bulgaria

Market analysis
Mobile statistics

General statistics

Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G (LTE)
3G
GSM
Mobile voice
Mobile data

SMS and MMS

Mobile broadband

Regulatory issues

GSM licences
Third generation (3G) licences
800MHz
1800MHz
2.5-2.6GHz
Other spectrum
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Roaming
Mobile Termination Rates (MTR)

Major mobile operators

Vivacom
A1 Bulgaria (MobilTel/M-Tel)
Telenor Bulgaria (Cosmo Bulgaria Mobile/GloBul)
Mobile content and applications
Mobile virtual network Operators (MVNOs)

M-commerce

Appendix – Historic data
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
Table 2 – Decline in mobile sector revenue – 2009 – 2018
Table 3 – Change in the proportion of mobile revenue by service – 2010 – 2018
Table 4 – Change in mobile market share of subscribers by operator – 2006 – 2018
Table 5 – Change in mobile market share of revenue by operator – 2007- 2018
Table 6 – Change in mobile market revenue share by service – 2008 – 2018
Table 7 – Ratio of prepaid to postpaid subscribers – 2009 – 2018
Table 8 – A1 Bulgaria’s prepaid subscribers – 2004 – 2019
Table 9 – Growth in the number of LTE subscribers – 2015 – 2018
Table 10 – Drop in SMS traffic – 2009 – 2019
Table 11 – Total MMS messages sent – 2003 – 2017
Table 12 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
Table 13 – Share of mobile broadband subscribers by operator – 2017 – 2018
Table 14 – Growth in the number of A1 Bulgaria’ mobile broadband subscribers – 2008 – 2019
Table 15 – Annual mobile number portings – 2008 – 2017
Table 16 – MTRs – 2014 – 2018
Table 17 – Change in the number of Vivacom’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2018
Table 18 – Vivacom mobile revenue – 2009 – 2018
Table 19 – Vivacom annualised mobile ARPU – 2015 – 2018
Table 20 – A1 Bulgaria prepaid, postpaid and blended monthly ARPU – 2009 – 2019
Table 21 – Change in the number of A1 Bulgaria’s mobile subscriber base – 2007 – 2019
Table 22 – Increase in A1 Bulgaria’s Minutes of Use (MOU) – 2007 – 2019
Table 23 – Telenor Bulgaria subscribers – 2007 – 2018
Table 24 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration – 1995 – 2009
Table 25 – Historic - Ratio of prepaid to postpaid subscribers – 2002 – 2009
Table 26 – Historic - Total SMS messages sent – 2003 – 2009
Table 27 – Historic - Mobile base stations in service by technology – 2012 – 2016
Table 28 – Historic - Telenor Bulgaria’s financial data (NOK) – 2013 – 2018

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
Chart 2 – Decline in mobile sector revenue – 2009 – 2018
Chart 3 – Change in the proportion of mobile revenue by service – 2010 – 2018
Chart 4 – Change in mobile market share of subscribers by operator – 2006 – 2018
Chart 5 – Change in mobile market share of revenue by operator – 2007- 2018
Chart 6 – Change in mobile market revenue share by service – 2008 – 2018
Chart 7 – Ratio of prepaid to postpaid subscribers – 2009 – 2018
Chart 8 – A1 Bulgaria’s prepaid subscribers – 2004 – 2019
Chart 9 – Growth in the number of LTE subscribers – 2015 – 2018
Chart 10 – Drop in SMS traffic – 2009 – 2019
Chart 11 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
Chart 12 – Growth in the number of A1 Bulgaria’ mobile broadband subscribers – 2008 – 2019
Chart 13 – Annual mobile number portings – 2008 – 2017
Chart 14 – Change in the number of Vivacom’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2018
Chart 15 – Vivacom mobile revenue – 2009 – 2018
Chart 16 – Vivacom annualised mobile ARPU – 2015 – 2018
Chart 17 – A1 Bulgaria prepaid, postpaid and blended monthly ARPU – 2009 – 2019
Chart 18 – Change in the number of A1 Bulgaria’s mobile subscriber base – 2009 – 2019
Chart 19 – Increase in A1 Bulgaria’s Minutes of Use (MOU) – 2007 – 2019
Chart 20 – Telenor Bulgaria subscribers – 2007 – 2018

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Bulgaria - Mobile Infrastructure, Broadband, Operators - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Synopsis

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Market analysis

Mobile statistics

Mobile infrastructure

Regulatory issues

Major mobile operators

Appendix – Historic data

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views