Hungary’s National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) has released its monthly ‘flash reports’ on the nation’s fixed and mobile markets, showing that the total number of fixed voice accesses reached more than 3.002 million at 31 August 2012, up from 2.999 million at end-June, a household penetration rate of 61.86%. Of the total, copper wire PSTN lines accounted for over 1.978 million voice channels, compared to 2.006 million two months earlier,
voice over cable television (VoCATV) connections grew by 20,904 to 556,762, and voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) subscriptions increased by a net 10,624 to 406,674. In terms of fixed line market share, Magyar Telekom’s T-Home service led the way with 59.8% of the market, ahead of second-placed Invitel Holdings with 13.1%, UPC Hungary (12.2%), DIGI (8.7%), and others (6.2%).
The number of fixed broadband connections reached 2.132 million by the start of September this year according to the regulator’s findings, which are compiled using data supplied by the principal players: Magyar Telekom, Invitel, GTS Hungary, UPC Hungary, DIGI, PR-Telekom, Tarr, ViDaNet and Parisatt. xDSL connections dipped by 6,234 to 777,925 subscriptions, although this was offset by a rise in basic cable modem lines to 857,954 from 848,708 previously, and cable (DOCSIS 3.0) users – up 12,045 to 210,261. Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) uptake also continues apace, accounting for 298,808 lines at 31 August, compared to 290,087 in June.
Meanwhile, in the mobile segment, the NMHH said that the country was home to a total of 11.509 million registered SIM cards at the end of August 2012, down a net 18,134 connections from 11.527 million at 30 June, a cellular penetration rate of 115.8%. In terms of the number of SIMs actually generating traffic though (i.e. active users), the figure stood at just over eleven million by 31 August, up from 10.980 million two months earlier. The NMHH found that T-Mobile Hungary accounted for 45.83% of active users at end-August, ahead of Telenor, with 31.47%, and Vodafone in third with 22.70%.