Annual Report
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TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 4 І. STATE, DEVELOPMENT, AND PROSPECTS OF THE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS MARKET ........................................................................................ 6 1. Global development of the electronic communications market ............................................ 6 2. The electronic communications market outlook .................................................................... 9 3. Volume and structure of the Bulgarian electronic communications market ....................... 13 3.1. Market volume ............................................................................................................. 13 3.2. Market structure ........................................................................................................... 14 4. Voice telephony services ..................................................................................................... 20 4.1. Fixed voice telephony services .................................................................................... 22 4.2. Mobile voice telephony services .................................................................................. 26 4.3. Voice services provided over broadband wireless access (BWA) networks by means of radio frequency spectrum ............................................................................. 31 5. Leased lines services ............................................................................................................ 32 6. Data transfer and Internet access ......................................................................................... 35 7. Transmission and/or distribution of radio and TV programs services ................................. 42 7.1. Retail distribution of radio and TV programs .............................................................. 43 7.2. Wholesale transmission and/or distribution of radio and TV programs and IPTV............................................................................................................................. 49 7.3. Terrestrial broadcasting – VHF broadcasting .............................................................. 51 8. Bundled services .................................................................................................................. 52 9. The Bulgarian electronic communications market outlook ................................................. 56 10. Provision of the universal service ...................................................................................... 57 10.1. Degree of satisfaction from the universal service provision ...................................... 57 10.2. Analysis of the provision of the universal service ..................................................... 57 10.2.1. Access to and provision of the universal service .................................................... 57 10.2.2. Access to public payphones .................................................................................... 59 10.2.3. Ensuring telephone directory and provision of enquiry services ............................ 60 10.2.4. Affordability of tariffs of the universal service ....................................................... 60 10.3. Quality of the universal service .................................................................................. 61 10.4. Compensation of net costs accrued due to the universal service provision ............... 62 10.5. Complaints and complaint resolutions ....................................................................... 62 10.6. The universal service outlook .................................................................................... 63 II. LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1. EU regulatory framework for electronic communications .. Error! Bookmark not defined. 2. Legal and regulatory framework in Bulgaria ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3. Major regulatory decisions of CRC in 2014 ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 4. Court representation on complaints against CRC decisions in 2014. Legal representation in administrative criminal proceedings ........ Error! Bookmark not defined. 5. Carrying out electronic communications ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.1. Authorizations for use of individually assigned scarce resourceError! Bookmark not defined. 5.2. Notifications on carrying out public electronic communicationsError! Bookmark not defined. 5.3. Carrying out electronic communications through amateur service radio equipment..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.4. Interconnection and access ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2 І. STATE, DEVELOPMENT, AND PROSPECTS OF THE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS MARKET 1. Global development of the electronic communications market Volume and growth of the sector In 2014, the total volume of the telecommunication services market reached USD 1.626 trillion. According to data, reported by one of the leading international analytical companies, Gartner Inc1, there is a decrease of 0.1% for another consecutive year, compared to the data for 2013. According to the data of ITU2, in 2014, the global trend towards growth in the number of users of electronic communications services continued. Figure 1 shows data on the penetration by population (per 100 inhabitants) by types of services over the past ten years (2005-2014). Global development of the electronic communications market 120.0% Fixed telephone subscriptions 100.0% Mobile voice services 95.5% Mobile broadband access 80.0% Fixed broadband access 60.0% 40.0% 32.0% 20.0% 15.8% 9.8% 0.0% 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT indicators database Fig. 1 Mobile voice services continued to play a major part in the development of the global electronic communications market. ITU reported a mobile voice services’ penetration of 95.5%, which is an increase of 2.4 percentage points compared to 2013. An increase of 5.3 percentage points was also reported in the mobile broadband access, where penetration reached 32%. Fixed broadband access penetration also reported growth, although at a slower pace (0.4 percentage points) compared to the previous year. 1 http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2959717 2 http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2014-e.pdf 6 In 2014, the decrease in the penetration of the fixed phone services was insignificant – by 0.3 percentage points compared to 2013. Mobile services In 2014, as the previous year, according to ITU data, mobile-cellular subscribers worldwide almost approached the number of people on earth (nearly 6.9 billion subscribers for a population of 7.1 billion). The increase in the number of subscribers of mobile voice services worldwide was again mainly due to the market in the developing countries where a growth of 38.9% was registered in the past five years (2010 – 2014). The penetration of mobile services in these countries grew from 68.5% in 2010 to 90.2% at the end of 2014. In terms of the “average degree of mobile services penetration” indicator, the data show that in 2014 its value was 95.5% (Fig. 1), with penetration of 120.8% in the developed countries. This percentage is the highest in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the European countries, respectively 140.6% (3.6 percentage points more compared to 2013) and 124.7% (1.8 percentage points more compared to 2013). The lowest degree of mobile services penetration was registered in the African countries – 69.3% and in the countries in the Asia-Pacific region – 89.2%. According to ITU data on the development of mobile services in the different regions of the world, in the countries from Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Arab States, the trend towards increase in the number of mobile services subscribers continues to grow at faster rates compared to the number of mobile services subscribers in the remaining regions. For a five-year period, this increase reached 72% for the African countries and in 2014 it was 8%, compared to 2013. Fixed voice services According to ITU data, in 2014 the degree of use of traditional telephony services over fixed network was almost equal to the one in 2013. Slight decrease was reported worldwide of the “number of fixed telephone lines” indicator. In 2014, the indicator value decreased by 0.96% compared to the previous year, or in an absolute value, by 11 million (in 2013, the number of fixed telephone lines was 1,158 million, while in 2014 it was 1,147 million). The greatest reduction of the “number of fixed telephone lines” indicator for a one-year period was reported in America – 1.6%. Increase in the number of fixed telephone lines was reported only in Africa and the Arab countries, where the increase in the indicator value compared to 2013 was 2.41% and 0.23%, respectively. A decrease was reported in the degree of penetration of fixed telephony services, whereas at the end of 2014 only 15.8% (16.2% in 2013) of the world population used this type of services. No change was observed in terms of the leading positions held by the European countries, where the highest degree of 39.2% penetration of fixed telephony services was observed once again (in 2013, this percentage was 39.6%).