Lithuania Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: October 2024

Report Pages: 248

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Lithuania’s regulator concludes 5G auctions

Lithuania’s small telecoms market is among the more advanced in Europe, particularly given the universal access to LTE infrastructure and the extensive fibre footprint. Operator investment has been focussed on fibre broadband and mobile network upgrades. Fibre is now by far the dominant fixed broadband platform, with the number of DSL and cable connections in steady decline.

A number of alternative operators offer services although the incumbent Telia Lithuania remains the dominant player in the fixed-line and broadband sectors.

SIM card penetration is relatively high for the region, with a growing proportion of subscribers being on higher-ARPU contract plans. While LTE services are available nationally, operators have made steady investments in 5G, with Telia being the first MNO to launch a commercial 5G service earlier in 2022. By March 2023, the company’s 5G network and by March 2023 provided 95% population coverage. Bite was the last of the MNOs to launch 5G, doing so in February 2023 and complementing the operator’s existing fixed-wireless 5G service.

The regulator has helped the network operators to develop 5G by allowing them to repurpose spectrum in the 2.1GHz and 2.4GHz bands. After some delay, the regulator in mid-2022 completed auctions of spectrum in the 700MHz and 3.4GHz bands. Service obligations on the licensees include the provision of services to the five main cities by the end of 2023.

Total revenue from the electronic communications sector increased 5.4% in 2022, year-on-year, showing the fastest growth since 2016. Revenue growth in the mobile sector was driven mainly from mobile broadband services.

This report provides an overview of Lithuania’s fixed-line telecom sector. It includes a variety of statistics from the regulator and the main players, as well as an overview of regulatory developments and telecom infrastructure. In addition, the report reviews the highly developed mobile market, covering the major operators, regulatory developments, mobile technologies, and services. The report also offers a wide range of statistical data on the fixed and wireless broadband markets, including subscriber forecasts.

Key developments:

Telia, Tele2, and Bite ordered to provide universal services to five underserved municipalities.
Bité expands its mobile 5G service, complementing its existing fixed-wireless 5G service.
Regulator completes two spectrum auctions for 5G services, with coverage obligations imposed on the three licensees.
Telia launches a 2Gb/s fibre-based broadband service.
Government revisits prepaid SIM card registration scheme.
Disputes Commission of the ITU rules for Lithuania in a case against Russia relating to frequency use in border areas.
Report update includes the regulator's market data to December 2022, telcos' financial and operating data to Q1 2023, updated Telecom maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Telia Lietuvos (Telia Lithuania), Bité Lithuania, Vinita, Balticum TV, Tele 2, Cgates.

Key statistics
Regional Europe Market Comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI versus GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Telecommunications market

Historical overview

Regulatory environment

Historical overview
Regulatory authority
Fixed-line developments

Telecom sector liberalisation
Privatisation
Universal Service Obligation (USO)
Interconnect
Access
Carrier selection and Carrier PreSelection (CPS)
Number Portability (NP)

Mobile network developments

GSM licences
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
2.6GHz spectrum
Spectrum auction 2013
Spectrum auction 2016
Spectrum auction for 5G
Significant Market Power (SMP)
Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs)
Roaming
SIM card registration

Mobile market

Market analysis
Mobile statistics

Mobile voice
Mobile data
Mobile broadband

Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G (LTE)
3G
Other infrastructure developments

Major mobile operators

Telia Lithuania
Bité
Tele2 Lithuania
MVNOs

Mobile content and applications

M-payments

Fixed-line broadband market

Market analysis
Broadband statistics
Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks

Infrastructure sharing

Other fixed broadband services

Fixed wireless (Wi-Fi and WiMAX)
Satellite broadband

Digital economy

E-government
E-health

Fixed network operators

Telia Lietuvos

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network

Telia Lietuvos
Alternative operators

International infrastructure
Wholesaling

Data centres
Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Lithuania – 2023 (e)
Table 2 – Evolution of telecom revenue and annual change – 2012 – 2022
Table 3 – Evolution of telecom revenue by service (€ million) – 2012 – 2022
Table 4 – Change in telecom investment – 2012 – 2022
Table 5 – Change in telecom investment by sector (€ million) – 2020 – 2022
Table 6 – Change in ARPU per service (€ / subscriber / month) – 2012 – 2022
Table 7 – Development of telecom revenue market share by operator – 2012 – 2022
Table 8 – Development of telecom revenue market share by sector – 2010 – 2022
Table 9 – Change in traffic in mobile and fixed-line networks (million minutes) – 2012 – 2022
Table 10 – Interconnection revenue shows steady decline (€ million) – 2012 – 2022
Table 11 – Decline in wholesale access lines by type – 2012 – 2021
Table 12 – Evolution of fixed wholesale lines – 2012 – 2021
Table 13 – Change in the number of fixed numbers ported – 2012 – 2022
Table 14 – Change in cumulative and annual mobile number portings – 2012 – 2022
Table 15 – Change in mobile interconnection revenue – 2012 – 2022
Table 16 – Decline in revenue from roaming services – 2012 – 2022
Table 17 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 18 – Change in the number of active mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 19 – Proportion of mobile market revenue by service – 2012 – 2022
Table 20 – Change in MVNO share of subscribers and revenue – 2012 – 2022
Table 21 – Change in proportion of retail mobile voice revenue to total sector revenue – 2012 – 2022
Table 22 – Change in market share of subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2022
Table 23 – Change in market share of revenue by operator – 2012 – 2022
Table 24 – Population coverage by mobile platform – 2009 – 2018
Table 25 – Shift in the number of base stations to LTE – 2012 – 2021
Table 26 – Development of mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2022
Table 27 – Ratio of prepaid to postpaid subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Table 28 – Decline in the number of prepaid subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Table 29 – Change in mobile voice traffic – 2012 – 2022
Table 30 – Strong growth in mobile data volume – 2012 – 2022
Table 31 – Change in mobile data subscriber market share per operator – 2012 – 2022
Table 32 – Decline in the volume of SMS traffic – 2012 – 2022
Table 33 – Change in SMS revenue and share of mobile market – 2012 – 2022
Table 34 – Evolution of MMS messages sent – 2012 – 2022
Table 35 – Mobile broadband (datacard) subscribers and penetration rate – 2012 – 2022
Table 36 – Growth in active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 37 – Change in the market share of mobile broadband subscribers by operator – 2020 – 2022
Table 38 – Development of mobile broadband revenue (€ million) – 2020 – 2022
Table 39 – Strong growth in LTE base stations in service – 2012 – 2021
Table 40 – Growth in the number of LTE subscribers – 2015 – 2022
Table 41 – Growth in the number of M2M connections – 2012 – 2022
Table 42 – Change in Telia Lithuania’s mobile subscriber base (million) – 2012 – 2023
Table 43 – Steady growth in Telia Lithuania’s mobile ARPU (€ / month / subscriber) – 2013 – 2023
Table 44 – Development of Telia Lithuania’s MOU and churn – 2012 – 2023
Table 45 – Development of Telia Lithuania’s mobile revenue (SEK million) – 2012 – 2023
Table 46 – Growth in Bité Lithuania’s mobile subscriber base – 2012 – 2022
Table 47 – Change in Bité mobile ARPU – 2019 – 2022
Table 48 – Development of Bité’s financial data (€ million) – 2019 – 2022
Table 49 – Growth in Bité’s revenue by segment (€ million) – 2019 – 2022
Table 50 – Growth in Tele2 Lithuania’s revenue (SEK million) – 2012 – 2023
Table 51 – Development of Tele2 Lithuania’s total revenue – 2012 – 2023
Table 52 – Development of Tele2 Lithuania’s mobile subscriber base – 2012 – 2023
Table 53 – Development of the number of MVNO subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Table 54 – Change in the number of fixed broadband connections by type – 2012 – 2022
Table 55 – Change in the proportion of fixed broadband connections by platform – 2012 – 2022
Table 56 – Growth in retail internet services market revenue – 2012 – 2022
Table 57 – Change in fixed internet market revenue share by platform – 2016 – 2022
Table 58 – Evolution of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 59 – Fixed broadband subscriber net additions per year – 2012 – 2022
Table 60 – Fixed internet ARPU by platform (€ / month) – 2015 – 2022
Table 61 – Evolution of broadband data rates as proportion of connections – 2012 – 2022
Table 62 – Steady growth in super-fast broadband connections – 2012 – 2022
Table 63 – Change in cable broadband market share by operator – 2014 – 2022
Table 64 – Telia Lithuania’s fixed broadband subscribers, total and DSL – 2012 – 2023
Table 65 – Decline in the number of wholesale DSL lines – 2012 – 2022
Table 66 – Growth in the number of Telia Lithuania’s FttP subscribers – 2012 – 2023
Table 67 – Growth in the number of FttP/FttB lines – 2012 – 2022
Table 68 – Change in the market share of fibre connections by operator – 2014 – 2022
Table 69 – Evolution in Wi-Fi and WiMAX subscriptions – 2012 – 2022
Table 70 – Change in the number of WiMAX base stations in service – 2012 – 2017; 2019
Table 71 – Change in altnets’ market share of fixed-lines and revenue – 2012 – 2022
Table 72 – Decline in the number of fixed-lines by operator – 2012 – 2022
Table 73 – Decline in fixed-telephony revenue – 2012 – 2022
Table 74 – Development of Telia Lithuania’s financial data (€ million) – 2012 – 2023
Table 75 – Change in Telia Lithuania’s fixed-line revenue by service (€ million) – 2015 – 2023
Table 76 – Change in Telia Lithuania’s fixed-line revenue by service (SEK million) – 2013 – 2023
Table 77 – Change in Telia Lithuania’s investments (€ million) – 2012 – 2022
Table 78 – Change in Telia’s fixed-line subscribers by service – 2012 – 2023
Table 79 – Steady drop in the number of fixed lines and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 80 – Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2022
Table 81 – Change in the number of dark fibre lines – 2012 – 2021
Table 82 – Development of dark fibre revenue – 2014 – 2021
Table 83 – Historical - Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 – 2011
Table 84 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1998 – 2011
Table 85 – Historic - Internet ARPU – 2010 – 2014
Table 86 – Historic - Change in the number of Wi-Fi hotspots – 2012 – 2017
Table 87 – Historic - Evolution of telecom revenue and annual change – 2009 – 2011
Table 88 – Historic - Evolution of telecom revenue by service (€ million) – 2009 – 2011
Table 89 – Historic - Change in telecom investment – 2009 – 2011
Table 90 – Historic - Change in traffic in mobile and fixed-line networks (million minutes) – 2009 – 2011
Table 91 – Historic - Evolution of fixed wholesale lines – 2008 – 2011
Table 92 – Historic - Change in the number of fixed numbers ported – 2009 – 2011
Table 93 – Historic - Change in cumulative and annual mobile number portings – 2008 – 2011
Table 94 – Historic - Evolution of MMS messages sent – 2009 – 2011
Table 95 – Historic - Telia Lithuania MOU and churn – 2009 – 2011
Table 96 – Historic - Renewed growth in Telia Lithuania’s mobile revenue (SEK million) – 2009 – 2011
Table 97 – Historic - Development of Tele2 Lithuania’s total revenue – 2009 – 2011
Table 98 – Historic - Telia Lithuania fixed broadband subscribers, total and DSL – 2009 – 2011
Table 99 – Historic - Decline in the number of wholesale DSL lines – 2009 – 2011
Table 100 – Historic - Growth in the number of FttP/FttB lines – 2009 – 2011
Table 101 – Historic - Decline in fixed-telephony revenue – 2009 – 2011
Table 102 – Historic - Change in Telia’s fixed-line subscribers by service – 2009 – 2011
Table 103 – Historic - Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2009 – 2011
Table 104 – Historic - Change in the number of dark fibre lines – 2008 – 2011

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Europe Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders
Chart 2 – Europe Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers
Chart 3 – Europe Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents
Chart 4 – Europe - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 – Europe – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – Scandinavia/Baltics fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Northern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – Eastern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 9 – Southern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 10 – Evolution of telecom revenue and annual change – 2012 – 2022
Chart 11 – Evolution of telecom revenue by service – 2012 – 2022
Chart 12 – Change in telecom investment – 2012 – 2022
Chart 13 – Change in telecom investment by sector (€ million) – 2020 – 2022
Chart 14 – Change in ARPU per service – 2012 – 2022
Chart 15 – Development of telecom revenue market share by operator – 2012 – 2022
Chart 16 – Development of telecom revenue market share by sector – 2012 – 2022
Chart 17 – Change in traffic in mobile and fixed-line networks – 2012 – 2022
Chart 18 – Interconnection revenue shows steady decline – 2012 – 2022
Chart 19 – Decline in wholesale access lines by type – 2012 – 2021
Chart 20 – Evolution of fixed wholesale lines – 2012 – 2021
Chart 21 – Change in the number of fixed numbers ported – 2012 – 2022
Chart 22 – Change in the number of annual mobile number portings – 2012 – 2022
Chart 23 – Change in mobile interconnection revenue – 2012 – 2022
Chart 24 – Decline in revenue from roaming services – 2012 – 2022
Chart 25 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 26 – Change in the number of active mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 27 – Proportion of mobile market revenue by service – 2012 – 2022
Chart 28 – Change in MVNO share of subscribers and revenue – 2012 – 2022
Chart 29 – Change in proportion of retail mobile voice revenue to total sector revenue – 2012 – 2022
Chart 30 – Change in market share of subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2022
Chart 31 – Change in market share of revenue by operator – 2012 – 2022
Chart 32 – Shift in the number of base stations to LTE – 2012 – 2021
Chart 33 – Ratio of prepaid to postpaid subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Chart 34 – Shrinking number of prepaid subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Chart 35 – Change in mobile voice traffic – 2012 – 2022
Chart 36 – Strong growth in mobile data volume – 2012 – 2022
Chart 37 – Change in mobile data subscriber market share per operator – 2012 – 2022
Chart 38 – Decline in the volume of SMS traffic – 2012 – 2022
Chart 39 – Change in SMS revenue and share of mobile market – 2012 – 2022
Chart 40 – Evolution of MMS messages sent – 2012 – 2022
Chart 41 – Mobile broadband (datacard) subscribers and penetration rate – 2012 – 2022
Chart 42 – Growth in active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 43 – Strong growth in LTE base stations in service – 2012 – 2021
Chart 44 – Growth in the number of LTE subscribers – 2015 – 2022
Chart 45 – Growth in the number of M2M connections – 2012 – 2022
Chart 46 – Change in Telia Lithuania’s mobile subscriber base – 2012 – 2023
Chart 47 – Steady growth in Telia Lithuania’s mobile ARPU – 2013 – 2023
Chart 48 – Renewed growth in Telia Lithuania’s mobile revenue – 2012 – 2023
Chart 49 – Growth in Bité Lithuania’s mobile subscriber base – 2012 – 2022
Chart 50 – Change in Bité mobile ARPU (€ / month) – 2019 – 2022
Chart 51 – Development of Bité’s financial data (€ million) – 2019 – 2022
Chart 52 – Growth in Bité’s revenue by segment (€ million) – 2019 – 2022
Chart 53 – Growth in Tele2 Lithuania’s revenue (SEK million) – 2012 – 2023
Chart 54 – Development of Tele2 Lithuania’s total revenue – 2012 – 2023
Chart 55 – Development of Tele2 Lithuania’s mobile subscriber base – 2012 – 2023
Chart 56 – Development of the number of MVNO subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Chart 57 – Change in the number of fixed broadband connections by type – 2012 – 2022
Chart 58 – Change in the proportion of fixed broadband connections by platform – 2012 – 2022
Chart 59 – Growth in retail internet services market revenue – 2012 – 2022
Chart 60 – Change in fixed internet market revenue share by platform – 2016 – 2022
Chart 61 – Evolution of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 62 – Fixed internet ARPU by platform – 2015 – 2022
Chart 63 – Evolution of broadband data rates as proportion of connections – 2012 – 2022
Chart 64 – Steady growth in super-fast broadband connections – 2012 – 2022
Chart 65 – Change in cable broadband market share by operator – 2014 – 2022
Chart 66 – Telia Lithuania’s fixed broadband subscribers, total and DSL – 2012 – 2023
Chart 67 – Decline in the number of wholesale DSL lines – 2012 – 2022
Chart 68 – Growth in the number of Telia Lithuania’s FttP subscribers – 2012 – 2023
Chart 69 – Growth in the number of FttP/FttB lines – 2012 – 2022
Chart 70 – Change in the market share of fibre connections by operator – 2014 – 2022
Chart 71 – Evolution in Wi-Fi and WiMAX subscriptions – 2012 – 2022
Chart 72 – Change in altnets’ market share of fixed-lines and revenue – 2012 – 2022
Chart 73 – Decline in the number of fixed-lines by operator – 2012 – 2022
Chart 74 – Decline in fixed-telephony revenue – 2012 – 2022
Chart 75 – Development of Telia Lithuania’s financial data – 2012 – 2023
Chart 76 – Change in Telia Lithuania’s fixed-line revenue by service – 2015 – 2023
Chart 77 – Change in Telia Lithuania’s fixed-line revenue by service – 2013 – 2023
Chart 78 – Change in Telia Lithuania’s investments – 2012 – 2022
Chart 79 – Change in Telia’s fixed-line subscribers by service – 2012 – 2023
Chart 80 – Steady drop in the number of fixed lines and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Chart 81 – Change in the number of dark fibre lines – 2012 – 2021

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Europe
Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – Europe – Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 – Europe – Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 – Europe – Market Emergents and market developments
Exhibit 6 – Access, the local loop and unbundling – an overview
Exhibit 7 – GSM spectrum award
Exhibit 8 – 4G spectrum awarded – 800MHz band
Exhibit 9 – 5G spectrum award 3.4-3.7GHz - 2022
Exhibit 10 – 5G spectrum award 700MHz - 2022

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Lithuania Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Lithuania’s regulator concludes 5G auctions

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Europe Market Comparison

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Digital economy

Fixed network operators

Telecommunications infrastructure

Data centres

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views