Bulgaria Telecommunications Report

Bulgaria's telecommunication industry entered the third quarter of 2009 with mixed results. Since the beginning of this year, mobile operators have been hit by EU regulations which have forced them to lower prices on termination and roaming charges, which are among the services with the highest margins. As competition is tightening and financial crisis affects consumption, revenues for Q2'09 from core businesses are declining despite general trend of higher usage for all major telcoms (BTC, Mobiltel and Globul). The outlook for former state monopolist BTC is still uncertain. The company has benefitted from some new regulations, affected by others and saw numerous management reshuffles.
Overall, however, the mobile industry is weathering the crisis better than most industries. Companies quickly readjust their strategies to the new circumstances, both in terms of the business and economic environment as well as in terms of the maturing nature of the industry.
European funding for expanding broadband access, liberalisation of existing infrastructure and the willingness of the industry to cooperate and provide expertise bode well for the faster development of the IT segment of the telecommunication industry.