Last updated: 23 Apr 2020 Update History
Report Status: Archived
Report Pages: 181
Analyst: Henry Lancaster
Publication Overview
This report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in Slovakia’s telecommunications market. The report analyses the fixed-line, mobile and broadband sectors. Subjects include:
Researcher:- Henry Lancaster
Current publication date:- November 2019 (17th Edition)
Executive Summary
Despite market liberalisation Slovakia’s incumbent telco Slovak Telekom maintains a near monopoly of the fixed-line market and also dominates the DSL broadband sector. However, there is effective competition in the broadband and mobile markets, where most investment is being channelled. The main operators including O2 Slovakia and Orange Slovakia have expanded into offering bundled fixed and mobile services.
The broadband market has shown steady growth in recent years. DSL remains the principal technology though by early 2020 it is expected to be eclipsed by the fast-developing fibre sector, which has been supported by sympathetic regulatory measures and considerable investment among operators. The cable sector is a distant third in terms of subscribers, though cable is particularly strong in urban areas. The main telco UPC Slovakia has gained customers steadily in recent years on the back of its widely available 500Mb/s service offering. In mid-2019 the company launched a 1Gb/s service in three cities, initially available to some 200,000 premises.
Slovakia’s mobile market is served by four mobile network operators. Two of these are the local units of operators with a pan-European reach (Deutsche Telekom and Orange Group) while O2 Slovakia was once the local unit of Telefónica Group before being sold to an investment group. Mobile penetration is relatively high, at about 142% by late 2019. The introduction of mobile number portability in 2006 intensified competition between players. However, the MVNO sector remains underdeveloped, with the few operators in place having failed to gain traction and thus holding only a marginal share of the overall market.
Mobile broadband access and content services are developing rapidly in line with operators having upgraded their networks. The regulator has prepared the groundwork for 5G services, with concessions in the 3.5GHz range allowing for the launch of 5G services. Operators are keen to secure spectrum in the 700MHz band which the regulator aims to auction before June 2020.
This report outlines Slovakia’s fixed-line telecom market, providing an overview of the regulatory environment, profiles of the major operators, and a range of operational and financial statistics. The report also provides insights into the mobile voice and data sectors, including market statistics as well as profiles of the mobile network operators, and covering regulatory issues as well as developments in LTE, 5G and mobile data services. In addition, the report addresses Slovakia’s fixed-line and wireless broadband markets, providing an overview of major players, as well as statistics, market analyses and subscriber forecasts.
BuddeComm notes that the outbreak of the Coronavirus in 2020 is having a significant impact on production and supply chains globally. During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G may be postponed or slowed down in some countries.
On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, will offset such pressures. In many markets the net effect should be a steady though reduced increased in subscriber growth.
Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report.
The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.
Slovak Telekom, Orange Slovakia, UPC Slovakia, O2 Slovakia, BENESTRA (GTS Nextra)
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