Moldova Communications - 2024

Telephones - fixed lines

total subscriptions: 951,138 (2022 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 33 (2021 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 3,900,179 (2021 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 127 (2021 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment: the telecom market has been affected by a combination of high unemployment and economic difficulties which have led to constraints on consumer spending; this has resulted in telecom revenue having fallen steadily in recent years; this decline continued into 2020, with a 6.3% in revenue from the important mobile sector alone, year-on-year; Moldova’s aspirations to join the EU have encouraged the government and regulator to adopt a range of measures to bring the country’s telecoms sector into line with EU principles and standards; in July 2017 the Electronic Communications Act was amended to accommodate the 2009 European regulatory framework, while further amendments were adopted in December 2017 and additional changes were proposed in 2019; Moldova is also part of the Eastern Partnership group of countries, and as such has set in train a glide path to reducing roaming charges, effective between 2022 and 2026; the country’s broadband strategy through to 2025 has been supported by the ITU and industry counterparts from South Korea; the internet market is developing rapidly; the market is highly competitive, with 101 active ISPs as of early 2021; the number of cable broadband subscribers is increasing steadily, though fiber is now by far the strongest sector; by the end of 2020 fiber accounted for about 72.3% of all fixed broadband connections; the mobile market has also grown rapidly; the near comprehensive geographical reach of their mobile networks, market brand recognition and existing customer relationships will make for steady subscriber growth in coming years (2022)

domestic: fixed-line service is 33 per 100; mobile-cellular teledensity is 127 per 100 persons (2021)

international: country code - 373; service through Romania and Russia via landline; satellite earth stations - at least 3 - Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik

Broadcast media

state-owned national radio-TV broadcaster operates 1 TV and 1 radio station; a total of nearly 70 terrestrial TV channels and some 50 radio stations are in operation; Russian and Romanian channels also are available (2019)

Internet country code

.md

Internet users

total: 1.891 million (2021 est.)

percent of population: 61% (2021 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 719,001 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 18 (2020 est.)