The telecommunications sector remains one of the fastest growing areas of the Georgian economy, accounting for between 5% and 7% of GDP. There is still room for further growth, with penetration rates in the mobile and broadband segments relatively low by the standards of European benchmark countries. Growth in mobile broadband has been steady, supported by the auction of spectrum in the 800MHz and 2100MHz bands which has enabled the network operators to expand the reach and capabilities of LTE services. LTE services now cover the vast majority of the population. The regulator during 2019 worked on a framework to develop services based on 5G, though given the existing capacity of LTE it is unlikely that 5G services will be made available by operators before 2022.
The country still faces economic challenges, which have impacted on the telecom sector. Revenue from fixed-line voice services has fallen sharply, while revenue from the mobile sector has been under stress from intense competition, compounded by the fall in messaging traffic as subscribers migrate to alternative OTT services. The overall market is largely propped up by the broadband sector, where the number of subscribers continues to increase steadily. The sharp growth in the number of fibre broadband connections has impacted on the DSL segment as customers are migrated from copper to fibre networks. DSL now accounts for only a small proportion of fixed broadband connections. This development reflects the significant increase in investment in infrastructure in recent years, spurred by the government’s national broadband plan. Much of the investment in fixed-line infrastructure is earmarked for fibre networks, which will provide backhaul for future 5G services.
Key developments:
Fixed-broadband sector continues to migrate from copper to fibre;
MagtiCom closes down its CDMS service;
Report update includes the regulator’s annual report for 2018, market statistics to November 2019, recent market developments.
Companies mentioned in this report:
Caucasus Online, Georgia Online, United Telecom, Telecom Georgia, Egrisi, SaNet, SilkNet, Georgian Railway Telecom, Akhali Kselebi
Table of Contents
Key statistics
Country overview
Telecommunications market
Market analysis
Regulatory environment
Regulatory authority
Fixed-line developments
Privatisation
Number Portability (NP)
Licensing and auctions – background information
Illegal operations
Call termination
Mobile network developments
Unrecognised operators
Spectrum auctions
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Mobile market
Market analysis
Mobile statistics
Mobile infrastructure
5G
4G/LTE
3G
Mobile data
SMS and MMS
Mobile broadband
Mobile commerce
M-banking
Major mobile operators
Operator statistics
Geocell
MagtiCom
VEON Georgia
SilkNet
Fixed-line broadband market
Introduction and statistical overview
Broadband statistics
Fixed-line broadband technologies
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
Other fixed broadband services
Fixed network operators
SilkNet
Telecom Georgia (Sakartvelos Telekomi)
NewNet Telecommunicatins (Akhali Kselebi)
Egrisi
Georgian Railway Telecom (GRT)
MagtiCom
Telecommunications infrastructure
Overview of the national telecom network
International infrastructure
Appendix – Historic data
Related reports
List of Tables
Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Georgia – 2019 (e)
Table 2 – Change in Georgia’s GDP growth rate – 2006 - 2019
Table 3 – Growth in retail and wholesale telecom revenue – 2013 - 2018
Table 4 – Development of telecom sector investment – 2016 - 2018
Table 5 – Distribution of telecom investment by sector – 2016 - 2018
Table 6 – Change in the number of fixed number portings – 2011 - 2019
Table 7 – Change in the number of mobile number portings – 2011 - 2019
Table 8 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2009 - 2024
Table 9 – Change in mobile market retail revenue – 2010 - 2019
Table 10 – Fall in mobile market voice revenue – 2013 - 2019
Table 11 – Change in mobile voice traffic – 2010 - 2019
Table 12 – Decline in SMS traffic – 2010 - 2019
Table 13 – Decline in SMS revenue – 2010 – 2019
Table 14 – Change in MMS traffic – 2010 - 2019
Table 15 – Fall in MMS revenue – 2010 - 2019
Table 16 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 - 2024
Table 17 – HSPA/EVDO internet subscribers – 2010 – 2019
Table 18 – Development of CDMA and LTE internet subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Table 19 – Growth in the number of standard mobile internet subscribers – 2013 – 2019
Table 20 – Growth in the number of standard mobile internet subscribers by operator – 2013 - 2019
Table 21 – Growth in mobile internet traffic – 2010 – 2018
Table 22 – Development of mobile internet traffic by technology – 2015 – 2018
Table 23 – Change in mobile market share of subscribers by operator – 2010 - 2019
Table 24 – Development of mobile ARPU by operator – 2010 - 2019
Table 25 – Development of mobile revenue by operator – 2013 - 2019
Table 26 – Growth in the number of MagtiCom’s mobile subscribers – 2007 - 2019
Table 27 – Growth in the number of VEON Georgia’s mobile subscribers – 2007 - 2019
Table 28 – Growth in the number of VEON Georgia’s standard mobile internet subscribers – 2010 - 2019
Table 29 – Growth in the number of SilkNet’s mobile subscribers – 2012 - 2019
Table 30 – Development of fixed broadband ARPU by customer type – 2013 - 2018
Table 31 – Development of fixed broadband ARPU by technology – 2013 - 2018
Table 32 – Change in the proportion of fixed broadband connections by data rate – 2013 - 2018
Table 33 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 - 2024
