Investments in Fiber Optic Infrastructure Increased by Nearly 20 Percent

The transition of users from copper to fiber optic infrastructure has also influenced the annual growth of fiber optic connections, which amounted to 34.2 percent, while investments in fiber optic infrastructure at the end of 2023 were nearly 20 percent higher compared to the previous year, HAKOM stated on Tuesday.

As stated in the announcement from the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Activities (HAKOM), trends from previous periods continued in the electronic communications market in the fourth quarter of 2023. Revenues from telephone services in the fixed network continue to decline, while revenues generated from internet access services are growing, with revenues from mobile network access increasing by 11.5 percent year-on-year, and from fixed network access by six percent. At the same time, revenue from paid TV program transmission services also grew by about seven percent.

At the end of 2023, there were nearly 1,114,000 broadband connections in the fixed network, which is about three percent more compared to 2022. The migration of users to fiber optic infrastructure continues, affecting the annual growth of fiber optic connections by 34.15 percent and a decline in connections on copper infrastructure by nearly five percent.

The share of users with VHCN broadband connections (very high capacity networks) in the total number of internet connections in fixed networks at the end of December 2023 was 39 percent, which is a direct consequence of the increase in investments in fiber optic infrastructure by 19.44 percent compared to the previous year, HAKOM noted.

While mobile network telephone services are recording growth in users and traffic, in the fixed network, the number of users of telephone services is down by 2.21 percent, and total outgoing traffic is down by 12.7 percent compared to the same period in 2022.

In the pay TV market in the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of connections increased compared to the same period in 2022. IPTV remains the leading technology with a market share of about 57 percent of the total number of pay TV users, HAKOM reported.