Georgia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Executive summary

Georgia sees market consolidation with SilkNet purchase of Geocell

In recent years telecommunications has become one of the fastest growing sectors in the Georgian economy, with telecom services accounting for between 5% and 7% of GDP. Mobile penetration stood at 129% in early 2018. Growth in mobile broadband has been steady, supported by the auction of spectrum in the 800MHz and 2100MHz bands which has enabled the network operators to expand the reach and capabilities of LTE services. LTE services now cover the vast majority of the population.

The country still faces economic challenges, which have impacted on the telecom sector. Revenue from fixed-line voice services has fallen sharply, while revenue from the mobile sector has also fallen in the wake of intense competition compounded by the fall in messaging traffic as subscribers migrate to alternative OTT services. The overall market is largely propped up by the broadband sector, where the number of subscribers continues to increase steadily. The sharp growth in the number of fibre broadband connections has impacted on the DSL segment as customers are migrated from copper to fibre networks. This development reflects the significant increase in investment in infrastructure in recent years, spurred by the government’s national broadband plan.

Key developments:

SilkNet acquires Geocell;
Mobitel and MagtiCom secure spectrum at auction;
Mediafon Datapro awarded contract to manage number portability database though facility has been delayed to mid-2018;
MagtiCom acquisitions see consolidation in the ISP segment;
Caucasus Online contracts TE SubCom to upgrade the Caucasus Cable system;
MagtiCom claiming 90% geographic coverage with LTE-A services;
Report update includes the regulator’s annual report for 2016, market statistics to April 2018.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Caucasus Online, Georgia Online, United Telecom, Telecom Georgia, Egrisi, SaNet, SilkNet, Georgian Railway Telecom, Akhali Kselebi

1. Executive summary
2. Key statistics
3. Country overview
4. Telecommunications market
- 4.1 Market analysis
5. Regulatory environment
- 5.1 Regulatory authority
- 5.2 Privatisation
- 5.3 Number Portability (NP)
- 5.4 Licensing and auctions – background information
- 5.5 Illegal operations
- 5.6 Call termination
6. Fixed network operators
- 6.1 SilkNet
- 6.2 Telecom Georgia (Sakartvelos Telekomi)
- 6.3 NewNet Telecommunications (Akhali Kselebi)
- 6.4 Egrisi
- 6.5 Georgian Railway Telecom (GRT)
- 6.6 MagtiCom
7. Telecommunications infrastructure
- 7.1 Overview of the national telecom network
- 7.2 International infrastructure
8. Fixed-line broadband market
- 8.1 Broadband statistics
- 8.2 Forecasts – broadband subscribers – 2019; 2021; 2023
- 8.3 Fixed-line broadband technologies
  - 8.3.1 Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
  - 8.3.2 Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
  - 8.3.3 Other fixed broadband services
9. Mobile market
- 9.1 Market analysis
- 9.2 Mobile statistics
- 9.3 Mobile infrastructure
  - 9.3.1 Digital networks
- 9.4 Mobile data
  - 9.4.1 SMS and MMS
- 9.5 Mobile broadband
- 9.6 Forecasts – mobile subscribers – 2019; 2021; 2023
- 9.7 Regulatory issues
  - 9.7.1 Unrecognised operators
  - 9.7.2 Spectrum auctions
  - 9.7.3 Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
- 9.8 Mobile applications and services
  - 9.8.1 M-banking
10. Mobile operators
- 10.1 Operator statistics
- 10.2 Geocell
- 10.3 MagtiCom
- 10.4 VEON Georgia
- 10.5 SilkNet
11. Related reports

Table 6 – Georgia’s GDP real growth rate – 2006 - 2017
Table 7 – Telecom market revenue (GEL) – 2010 - 2016
Table 8 – Fixed number portings – 2011 - 2018
Table 9 – Fixed line subscribers by major operator – 2010 - 2018
Table 10 – Historic - Fixed lines in service, annual change and penetration – 1995 - 2009
Table 11 – Fixed lines in service and penetration – 2010 - 2018
Table 12 – Fixed-line subscribers by technology – 2013 - 2018
Table 13 – Fixed-line subscribers by technology – 2013 - 2018
Table 14 – Fixed-line revenue by technology – 2010 - 2018
Table 15 – Fixed-line voice traffic by technology – 2010 - 2018
Table 16 – International internet bandwidth capacity – 2001 - 2016
Table 17 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate – 1996 - 2009
Table 18 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2010 - 2018
Table 19 – Fixed-line internet subscribers and penetration – 2001 - 2018
Table 20 – Household internet penetration – 2005 - 2018
Table 21 – Fixed broadband subscribers – 2001 - 2018
Table 22 – Broadband market revenue – 2010 - 2018
Table 23 – Fixed broadband subscribers by major operator – 2013 - 2018
Table 24 – Forecast - fixed broadband subscribers – 2019; 2021; 2023
Table 25 – DSL subscribers – 2008 - 2018
Table 26 – MagtiCom internet subscribers – 2012 - 2018
Table 27 – Caucasus Online internet revenue – 2013 - 2018
Table 28 – SilkNet internet subscribers – 2012 - 2018
Table 29 – SilkNet internet revenue – 2013 - 2018
Table 30 – Fibre broadband providers – 2010 - 2016
Table 31 – FttP subscribers – 2010 - 2018
Table 32 – Wi-Fi subscribers – 2010 – 2018
Table 33 – WiMAX subscribers – 2010 – 2017
Table 34 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1999 - 2009
Table 35 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 2010 - 2018
Table 36 – Mobile market retail revenue – 2010 - 2018
Table 37 – Mobile market voice revenue – 2013 - 2018
Table 38 – Mobile voice traffic – 2010 - 2018
Table 39 – SMS traffic – 2010 - 2018
Table 40 –SMS revenue – 2010 - 2018
Table 41 – MMS traffic – 2010 - 2018
Table 42 –MMS revenue – 2010 - 2018
Table 43 – Active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2010 - 2018
Table 44 – HSPA/EVDO internet subscribers – 2010 – 2016
Table 45 – CDMA internet subscribers – 2012 – 2018
Table 46 – LTE internet subscribers – 2014 – 2018
Table 47 – Standard mobile internet subscribers – 2012 – 2018
Table 48 – Mobile internet traffic – 2010 – 2018
Table 49 – Forecast – mobile subscribers – 2019; 2021; 2023
Table 50 – Mobile number portings – 2011 - 2018
Table 51 – Mobile market share of subscribers by operator – 2010 - 2018
Table 52 – Mobile ARPU by operator – 2010 - 2018
Table 53 – Geocell subscribers – 2002 - 2018
Table 54 – Geocell mobile revenue – 2013 - 2018
Table 55 – MagtiCom subscribers – 2007 - 2018
Table 56 – MagtiCom mobile revenue – 2013 - 2018
Table 57 – VEON Georgia mobile subscribers – 2007 - 2018
Table 58 – VEON Georgia standard mobile internet subscribers – 2010 - 2016
Table 59 – VEON Georgia mobile revenue – 2013 - 2018
Table 60 – SilkNet mobile subscribers – 2012 - 2018
Table 61 – SilkNet mobile revenue – 2012 - 2018

Chart 1 – Fixed line subscribers by major operator – 2010 – 2018
Chart 2 - Fixed lines in service and penetration - 2005 – 2018
Chart 3 – Fixed-line revenue – 2010 – 2018
Chart 4 – Fixed-line revenue by technology – 2010 – 2018
Chart 5 – Fixed-line voice traffic by technology – 2010 – 2018
Chart 6 - Internet users, annual change and penetration rate - 2005 – 2018
Chart 7 - Fixed broadband subscribers - 2005 – 2018
Chart 8 – Fixed broadband subscribers by major operator – 2013 – 2018
Chart 9 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 2005 - 2018

Exhibit 1 – United Telecom’s Tbilisi network infrastructure

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Focus Report Profile

Technologies

Broadband Fixed
Internet
Mobile Communications (voice and infrastructure)
Regulations & Government Policies
Strategies & Analyses (Industry & Markets)
Telecoms Infrastructure

Number of pages 45

Status Current

Last updated 12 Jun 2018
Update History

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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