BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec.19
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Mobile segment of Georgian incumbent telecom operator Silknet, which combines two major categories: mobile voice and mobile data, remained mostly flat in 3Q2020, down by 0.4 percent year-on-year to 49.7 million lari ($15.1 million), Trend reports via Georgian Galt&Taggart analytics company.
The growth in mobile data continued, albeit at a slower pace.
Mobile data revenue increased 5.6 percent year-on-year in 3Q2020, despite non-existent tourism sector.
Mobile voice revenues, which make up more than half of total mobile revenues, also rebounded in 3Q2020, up 3.6 percent year-on-year (after a 7.2 percent year-on-year decline in 2Q2020) helped by increased mobility in summer months.
On the back of the increased data usage, traditional revenue streams came under pressure. SMS revenue, which made up 4 percent of 9M2019 commercial revenue dropped sharply in 3Q2020, down 46 percent year-on-year to 2.3 million lari ($702,387).
The drop in SMS revenues, was the main reason behind the decline in overall commercial revenues for the company.
Silknet maintained strong market positions in 3Q2020 as the largest fixed voice and second largest fixed broadband, as well as Pay-TV and mobile operator in Georgia. The company had 1.66 million mobile subscribers as of September 2020.
In addition, Silknet had 292,500 fixed broadband and 229,700 pay-TV subscribers. Total number of subscribers have been slowly growing during 3Q2020. Magticom added 43,400 new subscribers in 3Q2020 compared to previous quarter, followed by Veon with additional of 18,800 subscribers and Silknet adding 10,100 subscribers in the same period.
Notably, on a yearly basis Silknet and Magticom have lost 86,500 and 80,200 subscribers, respectively, which is likely related to the absense of incoming tourists during summer months.
Overall, market shares of the mobile operators have remained unchanged in 3Q2020, with Magticom firming 40 percent of the market, closely followed by Silknet with 34.1 percent share.
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