22/03/2024 14:07
A decrease is recorded in the total fixed telephony connections for 2023, by 27,464, compared to 2022 according to the data by the Office of the Commissioner for the Electronic Communications and Postal Regulation (OCECPR) for the Electronic Communications market with data concerning up to December 2023. At the same time, according to the same data, the ratio of the total number of mobile users to the population of the Republic of Cyprus in 2023 shows an increase of 4.4% compared to 2022 and amounts to 156.1%.
According to the data the OCECPR announced in a press release , in 2023, an increase was recorded in total fixed telephony connections compared to 2022 by 27,464, while Fiber Optic connections continue to rise due to the transition of subscribers to fiber optic networks which is now the main means of landline connection with a rate of 65%.
It is noted that the number of fixed broadband subscribers in 2023 showed a small increase compared to 2022 (7,676, or a percentage of 2.2%), while in 2023 a significant increase (+15.8%) was observed in the rates of subscriptions with a speed rate ≥100Mbps compared to 2022, mainly due to the expansion of fiber networks of providers and free upgrades to higher speed products due to competition.
In addition, the small percentage of subscribers with speeds above 1Gbps is shown to double in relation to 2022 (2.8%). It is noted that the average data volume per fixed line during the fourth quarter of 2023 was 0.99 TB, continuing its upward trend, while the total data volume for 2023 shows a 26.5% increase compared to 2022.
As regards fixed telephony and fixed broadband access, it is noted that the main means of fixed telephony connection is Fiber Optic connections with a percentage of 65%, while Cable connections are in second place with 21.3%. At the same time, it is noted that 2023 was the year in which fixed broadband access subscriptions showed a small increase (7,676, or a percentage of 2.2%), compared to 2022, as a result of the high penetration in households (94%). Furthermore, it is added that the percentage of xDSL connections decreased by 15.0% in 2023 compared to 2022 with the percentage of Fiber connections increasing by 16.3% respectively reaching 51.4%.
At the same time, with regard to mobile telephony, the press release notes that, according to the data of the second half of 2023, the total number of mobile users showed an increase of 17,647 users compared to the first semester of the same year.
The number of contract subscriptions shows a 1.8% increase compared to the second half of 2022, while contracts with unlimited data, voice and SMS make up 53.77% of contract subscriptions.