Croatia’s regulator HAKOM wants to remove incumbent’s significant market player designation
Alternative operators in Croatia are reportedly unhappy with the regulator’s decision to deregulate 72 local markets for fixed broadband access.
The Croatian Regulatory Agency for Network Operations (HAKOM), which submitted its intentions to the European Commission, that would remove the significant market player (SMP) designation for incumbent operator Hrvatski Telekom (HT) in the specified markets, effectively removing price controls on its retail and wholesale services.
Deutsche Telekom subsidiary HT currently controls around 59% of Croatia’s market for retail fixed broadband subscriptions and rivals believe this latest move, first reported in Broadband TV News, will hamper competition by reinforcing its dominant position.
Telemach Hrvatska CEO Adrian Jezina told the title Croatia needed a stable regulatory framework, which would boost investments by all operators without favouritism. “We hope that the European Commission carefully review’s HAKOM’s proposal to ensures that it is harmonised with the practices of the European Union, and in the best long-term interest of consumers in Croatia”.
Croatia’s fixed scorecard
The nation’s fixed infrastructure lags other European countries with mobile still favoured for internet connectivity. In its Q1 2023 report released last week, HAKOM said there are just over one million fixed subscribers, served by 83 providers, versus 5.3m mobile internet users.
High-speed broadband (>100Mbps) reaches 61.5% of households, of which only around 20% are in rural areas. Around 380,000 take high-speed services. Despite the current relatively low utilisation rate of FTTH networks, at the end of last year the number of FTTH/B connections exceeded the number of ADSL connections for the first time.
User perceptions on broadband pricing
HAKOM’s internet experience survey revealed that to connect to the internet at home, the majority of users (92%) use the home wi-fi network, while 51% of users connect via a mobile network. The dominant devices that users use to connect to the Internet are smartphones (96%) and laptops (87%), while 46% of respondents use desktop computers to connect.
The regulator suggested A 5-10% price difference between ADSL/VDSL and fibre service prices would encourage around half of current copper technology users to switch to a fibre connection. 33% of users would like to have higher speeds but they are only willing to pay 10% more for it.
Given one third of users have never changed operators in the last three years, HAKOM’s move to deregulate the broadband market in this way understandably has the altnets jittery about a level playing field.
Mobile fares better
The regulator reported that in 2022, the number of households covered by 5G increased from 34% to 82.5%, of which in rural areas from 9% to 73.5%. The three operators had reached a total of 3315 macro sites. Following its latest spectrum auction in March, which included 5G frequencies, HAKOM renewed a number of licences which were due to expire next year.