2016 Estonia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Digital Media - Statistics and Analyses

Estonia’s digital media thriving on upgraded broadband networks

Estonia’s telecom market continues to benefit from a range of regulatory measures which have encouraged competition, enabling alternative operators to chip away at the fixed-line market share of the incumbent Telia (renamed from Eesti Telekom in January 2016). Fixed-line infrastructure upgrades have been geared to supporting bundled offerings and broadband services of at least 100Mb/s. These have been focussed on HFC and FttP networks, with LTE technology deployed in rural areas. A public-private partnership was set up to build a national fibre-based next-generation network.

Through these efforts Estonia has developed of the highest broadband penetration rates in Europe. Widespread broadband usage has underpinned Estonia’s emerging internet economy, with various e-commerce, e-government, e-education and e-health services available and widely used. Although the cable TV market is well developed, and cable TV operators are well-positioned to offer bundled play services, there is growing competition from emerging OTT videostreaming operators, including Netflix which launched services in the country in early 2016.

Estonia also has an advanced mobile market, having benefitted from considerable investment from the mobile network operators Telia, Elisa and Tele2. The market enjoys effective competition between them, though the MVNO sector remains underdeveloped. Operator investment in HSPA and LTE technologies has underscored the growing mobile broadband sector. The launch of LTE-A services has provided far higher data rates, bringing the county to the forefront of such developments in the region and supporting a range of mobile data services and applications. This will further underpin future revenue growth for operators in the market.

This report provides an overview of Estonia’s telecom market, including a review of the operational and financial performance of the largely international players. It also includes updated statistics and an overview of broadband market developments and trends, including forecasts to 2021, as also the major market developments in the country’s converging media and digital economy sectors. In addition the report covers the mobile market, including the major players, regulatory developments, services offered and a variety of financial and operating statistics.

Key developments:

• Eesti Telekom rebrands as Telia;
• Tele2 Eesti inaugurates 3,000km Baltic Highway cable linking to central and western Europe;
• Netflix launches in Estonia;
• Estonian start-up developing Li-Wi technology;
• Providence Equity Partners acquires a 63% stake in Starman;
• Estonia develops e-residency cards;
• Tele2 Eesti rolls out CA LTE-A services in major cities;
• Technical Surveillance Authority reports on MNP;
• LTE networks providing national coverage;
• Report update includes operator data to Q1 2016, Statistics Estonia data to December 2015, the regulator’s market data updates and 2015 annual report, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Elisa, Tele2 Eesti, Telia (Elion, EMT), Starman, STV, Viasat, Levira, Baltic Broadband.