Bulgaria Communications - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Telephones - fixed lines

total subscriptions: 787,637 (2021 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 11 (2021 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 7,902,756 (2021 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 115 (2021 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment:

Bulgaria’s telecom market was for some years affected by the difficult macroeconomic climate, as well as by relatively high unemployment and a shrinking population; these factors continue to slow investments in the sector, though revenue growth has returned since 2019; there still remains pressure on revenue growth, with consumers migrating from fixed-line voice telephony to mobile and VoIP alternatives, while the volume of SMS and MMS traffic has been affected by the growing use of alternative OTT messaging services; investing in network upgrades and its development of services based on 5G have stimulated other market players to invest in their own service provision; by the end of 2022 about 70% of the population is expected to be covered by 5G; the broadband market in Bulgaria enjoys excellent cross-platform competition; the share of the market held by DSL has fallen steadily as a result of customers being migrated to fiber networks; by early 2021 about 65% of fixed-line broadband subscribers were on fiber infrastructure; Bulgaria joins the U.S. State Department’s Clean Network initiative in a bid to protect its 5G communications networks

(2022)

domestic: fixed-line over 11 per 100 persons, mobile-cellular teledensity, fostered by multiple service providers, is over 115 telephones per 100 persons (2021)

international: country code - 359; Caucasus Cable System via submarine cable provides connectivity to Ukraine, Georgia and Russia; a combination submarine cable and land fiber-optic system provides connectivity to Italy, Albania, and Macedonia; satellite earth stations - 3 (1 Intersputnik in the Atlantic Ocean region, 2 Intelsat in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) (2019)

Broadcast media

4 national terrestrial TV stations with 1 state-owned and 3 privately owned; a vast array of TV stations are available from cable and satellite TV providers; state-owned national radio broadcasts over 3 networks; large number of private radio stations broadcasting, especially in urban areas

Internet country code

.bg

Internet users

total: 5.175 million (2021 est.)

percent of population: 75% (2021 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 2,115,053 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 30 (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Bulgaria on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bulgaria 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bulgaria 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.