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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