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Estonia - Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital Media and Forecasts

cover of Estonia - Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital Media and Forecasts

Table of Contents

Management Report
Published: March 2011
Pages: 63
Tables: 73
From: GBP 299.00  Buy Now!
Research from: Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd.
Sector: Broadband & Fixed

Publication Overview

This report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in Estonia’s telecommunications market. The report analyses the mobile, internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media sectors. Subjects include:

  • Market and industry analyses, trends and developments;
  • Facts, figures and statistics;
  • Industry and regulatory issues;
  • Infrastructure;
  • Major players, revenues, subscribers, ARPU, MoU;
  • Internet, VoIP, IPTV;
  • Mobile voice and data markets;
  • Broadband (FttH, DSL, cable TV, wireless);
  • Convergence and digital media;
  • 3G subscriber and mobile ARPU forecasts to 2015;
  • Broadband market forecasts for selective years to 2020.

Executive Summary

Estonia’s fibre broadband on target for 2015 national rollout

BuddeComm’s annual publication, Estonia - Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital Media and Forecasts, provides a comprehensive overview of the trends and developments in the telecommunications and digital media markets in one of Eastern Europe’s more mature and dynamic markets.

The Estonian telecoms market is one of the most developed in Eastern Europe. Following independence in 1989 the country moved quickly to open its markets to competition. Estonia was one of ten countries that joined the European Union in mid-2004, and consequently it transposed the EU’s telecoms regulatory framework into national law. At the beginning of 2011 the country adopted the troubled Euro as its currency. This achievement has brought a small country of fewer than 1.3 million people into Europe’s huge single market, and despite existing currency difficulties it should go far to offering a reassuring degree of financial security. Estonia is a justified entrant to the Eurozone, having one of the lowest levels of national debt in the region, just 10% of GDP.

EU membership placed significant regulatory commitments on Estonia pertaining to access and competition rules, which have encouraged investment in the telecoms sector. Indeed Estonia was the first of the Baltic nations to liberalise its telecoms market after ending fixed-line incumbent Elion’s monopoly at the beginning of 2001. All other services had previously been liberalised. Elion has retained a major share of the fixed voice market although it is in decline as consumers turn to mobile handsets to make voice calls and other forms of communication.

Estonia’s broadband penetration is the highest of all the Eastern European countries. Broadband access is available via ADSL2+, FttH, cable, WiFi, WiMAX and mobile. Elion is the dominant provider of ADSL services, with cable broadband the main competing platform. 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. The cable TV market is well developed and hence cable TV operators have been well-positioned to offer triple play services. IPTV services have been launched by Elion.

Fixed broadband is widely accessible in Estonia, with a number of operators offering services. Strong infrastructure-based competition exists in urban areas, while competition in rural areas is improving mainly due to wireless fixed-broadband access platforms. The market is dominated by Elion, though competition has seen its market share fall from 55% in early 2008 to about 50% in early 2011.

Government participation in expanding broadband access is evident in a number of key programmes which will extend broadband availability to across the county by 2015, in some cases by infrastructure being deployed by private operators through public sector procurement. The main goal is to eliminate the digital divide between cities and rural areas, and to contribute to economic growth. The end-target is for all households and businesses to be able to connect to a network supporting 100Mb/s. Public subsidies are derived from State contributions as well as financing from EU structural funds.

Estonia’s mobile market also enjoys high penetration, approaching 130%. Three mobile network operators offer services, with the main operator, supported by ZTE, also planning to launch 3G services. UMTS networks have been launched, a good proportion of which have been upgraded to support HSPA technology. Given the experience of two mobile network operators – Tele2 and Elisa – elsewhere in Scandinavia, there is the technological and financial backing to propel Estonia to the forefront of the emerging mobile broadband market in the region, and for operators and consumers alike to exploit mobile content and applications. With revenue growth prospects from mobile voice fading, this area is expected to underpin future revenue growth.

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