Romanian ANCOM: Tablets, present in over a third of Romanian households

At least one tablet is present in 36% of Romanian households (1.1 tablets / household on average), a study made by ANCOM (Romanian National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications). In the same time, there are at least one smartphone (1.5 per household on average) in 73% Romanian households, while laptops are present in 55%.

50% of the Romanians have access to mobile internet via mobile telephone, as they hold a telephony subscription with internet traffic included, 35% access it by mobile based on a prepaid card (with extra-option for mobile internet), and 25% access the internet via sticks or by subscription-based USB card. 67% of the subscriptions/extra-options, 70% of the prepaid cards, respectively 45% of the tablets/USB cards for mobile internet feature limited internet traffic, whereas 33% of the subscriptions/extra-options, 30% of the prepaid cards with access to the internet, respectively 55% of the tablets/USB cards feature unlimited mobile internet traffic or unlimited with certain restrictions.

Generally, 55% of the mobile internet users with access to limited traffic use it very attentively and keep an eye on the limit. Among them, 24% said they rarely exceed the traffic limit, while only 10% do that often or very often. 38% of those who exceed the included traffic give up using the mobile internet during the respective invoicing period, whereas 60% keep using it, incurring either additional costs, or lower transfer rates.

On average, for mobile internet, Romanians pay RON 58 (€13) for individually purchased services and RON 109 (€25) for packages including mobile internet services. Most pay between RON 23 – RON 45 (€5 – €10) for an individual service and over RON 90 (€20) for a package of services.

According to a survey, Romanians are generally satisfied with their mobile internet service provider and only 5% of them switched providers in the past year. Quoted as reasons to switch providers are benefits from a more advantageous service offer (24% of the respondents), preference for offers facilitating the purchase of a new mobile device (mobile telephone/smartphone, tablet or laptop – 17%), volume of traffic (17%) and coverage area needs (13%, especially in rural areas).

When it comes of mobile internet, it is used mainly for browsing, social networking and e-mail, as well as for voice communication or instant messaging. 78% of the users access mobile internet services daily or almost daily, while 15% use it 2-3 times a week. On the other hand, 76% of the mobile internet users have a fixed connection at home and, normally, the mobile connection is the alternative to the fixed one, when the latter does not work properly.

The quoted survey was conducted for ANCOM by International Consulting Expertise in collaboration with CCSAS, on a sample of 1,549 residential users in Romania, that use internet access services provided at mobile locations, featuring a margin of error of +/-2.5%, at a probability level of 95%.