In the electronic communications market in 2024, operators continued to invest in very high-capacity networks (VHCN), which is expected to continue in 2025, potentially surpassing the number of connections on the copper network, while service prices should not rise significantly.
The President of the Council of the Croatian Regulatory Agency for Network Activities (HAKOM) Tonko Obuljen states that investments have increased the coverage of VHCN networks and the number of users, and by the end of the third quarter of this year, there were more than 490 thousand VHCN connections, almost 60 thousand more than in the same period last year.
In 2025, strong growth in the number of VHCN connections is expected, which could prompt HT to gradually phase out the copper network, as well as significantly connect users in rural areas to fiber optic networks built with support from EU funds.
– Users should benefit from competition among operators and receive even higher quality services at reasonable prices. Operators will face competition for every user, but also cooperation and joint use of built fiber optic networks, as well as challenges such as a lack of workforce for building networks and connecting end users, and not always fully quality spatial plans that slow down or even prevent quality network construction – believes Obuljen.
He adds that Croatia is doing well compared to the EU average regarding VHCN network coverage in urban and suburban areas, while it is above the EU average in 5G coverage.
However, it lags behind the average in covering rural areas and generally in the utilization of newly built VHCN networks, which Obuljen finds understandable as not enough time has passed since the construction of the networks.
Regulatory news – all three major telecoms with the obligation to provide universal service
From January 1, 2025, HT (Croatian Telecom) will no longer be the only telecom operator with the obligation to provide universal service connections, as it has been determined that A1 Croatia and Telemach Croatia have a certain degree of network construction and availability in some areas where they will have to provide connections and services if requested by the user.
Universal service is a service providing internet access and voice communication of a certain quality that must be available to every citizen at any reasonable location at an affordable price. It also includes special offers with service prices tailored to the needs of socially vulnerable groups of citizens, and in areas where internet access infrastructure is still exclusively copper, and the line to their home is too long for higher speeds or required quality.
If such users attempt to enter into a contract for a commercial internet access package, operators may not have the technical capabilities to provide the connection and will reject the user, who can then turn to the operator designated as the universal service operator for internet access, which are all three largest, and request the realization of the universal service.
From January 1, the minimum speed of the universal service will also be raised to 14 Mbit/s, while the price of the universal internet access service with a minimum data volume of 100 GB per month and an upload speed of at least 1 Mbit/s should not exceed 29.21 euros.
Certain categories of socially vulnerable citizens have the right to a social package with universal service operators regardless of where they live. The price of that package should not exceed 6.77 euros for internet access service.
At the beginning of 2025, HAKOM will begin drafting a national risk assessment for each operator and categorize them as key or important entities (low, medium, or high risk level), and after that categorization, operators will have one year to implement the prescribed security measures.
Nothing without investments
HAKOM believes that 2025 will also bring continued investments in building new VHCN networks and further application of 5G technology. Obuljen states that investments are increasing every year, including commercial investments and investments supported by EU funds.
– We also expect further implementation of 5G technology, as operators have deadlines at the end of the year for covering certain areas specified in the permits, which will help achieve the goals set out in the National Broadband Development Plan in Croatia 2021-2027. We hope that some private 5G networks will also be realized, where this technology is used in a specific area for some business activity – says Obuljen.
