ESIS extension - Bulgaria - Basic Facts January 2001

Update:
January 2001

Bulgaria

These pages present basic facts and technology indicators about the Information Society developments in Bulgaria.

All data have been collected from readily publicly available sources of information at the end of 2000. Since they depend on definitions which are not standardised in all countries, or, in some cases on estimates, and also due to the difficulty to obtain statistical data and series in several countries covered, these indicators should be considered only as indicative of trends and general tendencies.

This report has been prepared under the sole responsibility of the ESIS II contractors. We welcome any additional information or corrections. Please contact the ESIS contractor in charge of the country concerned.

1. Economic data

1.1 General socio-economic data

		Reference year
Total area (km2)	110993.6	Month 12 of 2000
Population (million)	8.341 8.283 8.230 8.191 8.175 ⁽¹⁾	1996 1997 1998 1999 Month 12 of 2000
Gross national Product (GNP) (EURO billion)	13.8 ⁽²⁾	2000
Real Growth Domestic Product (GDP) Growth Rate (%) / previous year	4.5 % ⁽³⁾	2000 / 1999
Growth National Product (GNP) per capita (EURO)	1684 ⁽³⁾	2000
Economic structure	Agriculture: 26.6 % Industry: 29.1 % Services: 44.3 %	1999

Source : National Statistical Institute
Notes:⁽¹⁾ Estimation.⁽²⁾Projection for 12.8 billion USD.⁽³⁾Forecast.

General remark : All available data in USD in the report were converted to EURO using the following rates: 1 EURO / 1 USD for 1996 – 1.275 ; for 1997 – 1.143 ; for 1998 – 1.115 ; for 1999 – 1.072 ; for 2000 - 0.930.

1.2 Telecom market size

	End 1996	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month x 2000
*Operators market (EURO million)^()**	165.0 ⁽¹⁾	256.9 ⁽¹⁾	410.2 ⁽¹⁾	566.9 ⁽¹⁾
PSTN ^(**)	159.8 ⁽²⁾	192.9	274.6 ⁽²⁾	357.4 ⁽²⁾
ISDN
Value-Added Services
Mobile ^(***)		32.4 ⁽³⁾	56.7 ⁽³⁾	77.0 ⁽³⁾
Satellite
Cable
Equipment market (EURO million )
Total Telecom market (EURO million)

Source: ^(*) National Statistical Institute; ^(**)Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC); ^(***) Radio Telecommunications Company (RTC) Annual Reports.

Notes:⁽¹⁾Receipt of Communications Services.⁽²⁾Revenue.⁽³⁾Only for NMT operator RTC (totaL turnover).

1.3 Computer market size

	End 1996	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month 12 of 2000
Services market (EURO million)
Equipment market (EURO million) ^(*)	54.9 ⁽¹⁾	52.6 ⁽¹⁾	68.6 ⁽¹⁾	109.8 ⁽¹⁾	120.4 ⁽¹⁾
Total IT market (EURO million)^()**	80	92	112	142.7 ⁽²⁾	185

Source:^(*)© 1991-2000. CBN-Pannoff, Stoytchev Co. ChronoAnalysis: Bulgarian’s IT market Business Analysis. Edition VI; ^(**) Estimation based on data from IDC for IT market size (published in COMPUTERWORLD/BG, No14, 14.04.2000, p.1-4).

Notes:⁽¹⁾Import of computer hardware (CIF) for the relevant year; preliminary results for 1999, forecast for 2000.⁽²⁾In 1999 – 152.9 million USD (142.7 million EURO) total IT market size; hardware – 109.1 million USD (101.8 million EURO); software – 20.7 million USD (19.3 million EURO); services – 23.1 million USD (21.6 million EURO).

2. Actors and competition

2.1 Fixed Operators

Number of operators having a license Month 12 of 2000

Source : Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Fixed operators Month 12 of 2000

Bulgarian Telecommunications Company - Plc.

Source : Ministry of Transport and Communications.

2.2 Mobile Operators

Name of Operator	Type of network	Number of subscribers				% of the market (Month 12 of 2000)
Name of Operator	Type of network	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month 12 of 2000	% of the market (Month 12 of 2000)
RTC Mobifon	NMT	36522	76758	135438	170000 ⁽¹⁾	25.4 %
MobilTel	GSM	19000	51000	196000	500000 ⁽¹⁾	74.6 %

Source : RTC; MobilTel; ChronoRank ‘2000 ™ : Independent Ranks of the Top ICT Companies in Bulgaria: 1997 – 1999.
Note: ⁽¹⁾Forecast, 165000 NMT and 450000 GSM subscribers in November 2000.

2.3 Internet Service Providers

Estimation of the Number of Internet Service Providers ⁽¹⁾	Last reference date
180	1999

Source : © 2000. CBN. ChronoAnalysis: Bulgarian’s IT market Business Analysis. Edition VI.
Note: ⁽¹⁾Forecast for 2000 – 198 ISPs.

Main Internet Services Providers Date Month 12 of 2000
Company	Web sites	Number of subscribers
ITD Network	www.itdnet.net
Bankservice	www.bsbg.net
BIAnet	www.bianet.net
BIT	www.bitex.com
BTC	www.btc.bg
GOCIS	www.gocis.bg
Internet-Bulgaria	www.internet-bg.net
Lirex BG	www.lirex.com
NET IS SAT	www.netissat.bg
Orbitel	www.orbitel.bg
ProLink	www.prolink.bg
RTC Mobikom	www.mobikom.bg
Spectrum Net	www.spnet.net

Source : INTERNET, No 39, 2000, p. 12, ISPs with international Internet connectivity.

2.4 Portals

Main portals Month 12 of 2000
Name	Internet Address
Dir.bg	www.dir.bg
Gyuvetch	www.gbg.bg

3. Basic Indicators

3.1 Telephones lines

	End 1996	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month 12 of 2000
Total number of conventional lines ^(*)	2647459 ⁽¹⁾	2681074 ⁽¹⁾	2757990 ⁽¹⁾	2833395 ⁽¹⁾	2909800 ^{(1) 3)}
Total number of 64k ISDN lines ^(*) (subscriptions)	-	-	-	21700	40000 ⁽³⁾
Total number of mobile phone lines ^(**)	36000	55522	127758	331438 ⁽²⁾	670000 ⁽²⁾
Total number of lines	2683459	2736596	2885748	3186533	3619800 ⁽³⁾

Sources: ^(*)BTC Annual reports; ^(**) White Paper, ICT in Bulgaria, based on data from © 2000. CBN. ChronoAnalysys: Bulgarian IT Market Annual Business Analysis. Edition VI; data from RTC and MobilTel.

Notes:⁽¹⁾Numbers of main telephone subscriber lines are quoted. The numbers of Telephone subscriber lines of all kinds are as follow: year 1999 – 3254742 ; 1998 – 3186631 ; 1997 – 3118817 ; 1996 – 3107356.⁽²⁾For year 1999 – preliminary results; for year 2000 – forecast values.⁽³⁾Estimation.

	End 1996	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month 12 of 2000
Total number of conventional lines per 100 inh. ^(*)	31.7 ⁽¹⁾	32.4 ⁽¹⁾	33.3 ⁽¹⁾	34.3 ⁽¹⁾	35.7 ^{(1) (3)}
Total number of 64k ISDN lines (subscriptions) per 100 inh.	-	-	-	0.3	0.5
Total number of mobile phone lines per 100 inh.	0.4	0.7	1.6	4.0	8.2
Total number of lines per 100 inh.	32.2	33.0	35.1	38.9	44.3

Sources: ^(*)BTC Annual reports;

Notes:⁽¹⁾Telephone density on main subscriber lines (per 100 inhabitants). Total telephone density (per 100 inhabitants) is 39.43 for year 1999 and 38.47 for year 1998.⁽²⁾For year 1999 – preliminary results; for year 2000 – forecast values.⁽³⁾Estimation.

	End 1996	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month 12 of 2000
% of 64k ISDN lines (subscriptions) / Total number of lines ⁽¹⁾	-	-	-	0.7 %	1.1 % ⁽²⁾
% of mobiles phone lines / Total number of lines ⁽¹⁾	1.3%	2.0%	4.4%	10.4 %	18.5 % ⁽²⁾

Notes:⁽¹⁾In the Total number of lines data for main telephone subscriber lines are included.⁽²⁾Estimation.

3.2 Telecom equipment

		End 1996	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month 12 of 2000
*Telephones sets ^()**	Installed base	3107356 ⁽¹⁾	3118817 ⁽¹⁾	3186631 ⁽¹⁾	3254742 ⁽¹⁾	3323092 ⁽²⁾
	Penetration rate (units per 100 inh.)	37.2	37.6	38.5	39.4	40.7
Public pay phones	Installed base	14853 ⁽³⁾	20057 ⁽³⁾	23171 ⁽³⁾	30228 ⁽³⁾
	Penetration rate (units per 1000 inh.)	1.79	2.41	2.8	3.6
Pagers ^()**	Installed base			25000	39000 ⁽⁴⁾	45000 ⁽⁴⁾
	Penetration rate (units per 1000 inh.)			3.0	4.8	5.5

Source: ^(*) BTC; ^(**)White Paper, ICT in Bulgaria, based on data from © 2000. CBN. ChronoAnalysys: Bulgarian IT Market Annual Business Analysis. Edition VI.

Notes:⁽¹⁾ Data for the fix telephone subscriber lines of all kinds and for the total telephone density are used.⁽²⁾Estimation.⁽³⁾ Pay Phones and Multipurpose Pay Phones.⁽⁴⁾ For year 1999 – preliminary results; for year 2000 – forecast values.

3.3 Personal computers

	End 1996	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month 12 of 2000
Total number of Home PCs			25000	37500
Total number of Business PCs
Total number of PCs	189700	220200	269900	338200	361400 ⁽¹⁾

Source : © 1991-2000. CBN-Pannoff, Stoytchev Co. ChronoAnalysis: Bulgarian’s IT market Business Analysis. Edition VI
Note: ⁽¹⁾Forecast

	End 1996	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month 12 of 2000
Total number of Home PCs per 100 inh.			0.3	0.5
Total number of Business PCs per 100 inh.
Total number of PCs per 100 inh.	2.3	2.7	3.3	4.1	4.4 ⁽¹⁾

Note: ⁽¹⁾Forecast

3.4 Internet

3.4.1 General data

	End 1998	End 1999	Month 12 of 2000
Number of internet users ⁽¹⁾	139000	285000	430000
Number of Internet domestic users
Number of Internet users per 100 inh	1.7	3.5	5.3
Estimation of Internet penetration rate in companies

Note: ⁽¹⁾ Estimation.

3.4.2 E-Commerce

No data available.

3.4.3 Web sites

Number of subdomains under country domain ⁽¹⁾	Last reference date
1198	November 2000

Source : http://i-world.vega.bg/bif/
Note: ⁽¹⁾Number of subdomains in domain .bg.

3.4.4 Internet hosts

Number of Internet hosts	Last reference date
18963	November 2000

Source : RIPE Network Coordination Centre <http://www.ripe.net/>

3.5 Miscellaneous

*Teleworking*	Total number of teleworkers	Last reference date
Teleworkers

*Television*	Total number	Number per 100 inh.	Last reference date
Number of TV sets ^(*)	3056000	37.2	1996
Number of Home Cable TV Subscribers
Number of Home equipped with Satellite

Source:^(*)Unesco, ITU estimate.

*Waiting Time*	Average waiting time	Last reference date
Average waiting time for fixed telephone subscription	2.3 years ⁽¹⁾	1999

Sources: Sources : BTC Annual report.
Note: ⁽¹⁾Estimation, calculated as a ratio between the number in waiting list for new subscriber line (330000) and the number of satisfied requests (140000).

*Network digitisation*	Rate	Last reference date
Network digitisation rate	80.3% ⁽¹⁾	1999

Source:Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Note: ⁽¹⁾For long distance telephone connections.

4. The use of public network

4.1 Voice

	End 1996	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month x of 2000
Number of calls per inh.
Number of minutes called per inh.
Total number of pulses of national communications (million) ^(*)	11930	12395
Total number of minutes of international communications (million)^(*)	193	211	285
Total number of pulses (million)

Source: ^(*)ITU, Yearbook of Statistics, 1999, p. 34.

5. The telephone tariffs of historical operator

	End 1996	End 1997	End 1998	End 1999	Month 12 of 2000
Fixed costs (EURO)
Installation for main line		62.6 ⁽¹⁾	76.4 ⁽¹⁾	81.7 ⁽¹⁾	81.8 ⁽¹⁾
Rental per month for main line		0.55/3.1 ⁽²⁾	0.82/4.1 ⁽²⁾	1.2 / 4.7 ⁽²⁾	2.0 / 5.4 ⁽²⁾
Variable costs (EURO)
Local call per minute		0.013 ⁽³⁾	0.020 ⁽³⁾	0.023 ⁽³⁾	0.026 ⁽³⁾
Long Distance call per minute		0.09 ⁽⁴⁾	0.12 ⁽⁴⁾	0.12 ⁽⁴⁾	0.12 ⁽⁴⁾
Average of International call per minute		0.98 ⁽⁵⁾	0.97 ⁽⁵⁾	0.71 ⁽⁵⁾	0.61 ⁽⁵⁾

Source : BTC, all costs are VAT exclusive.

Notes:⁽¹⁾Depends on the capacity of the local telephone network. Highest costs, applicable in the biggest cities are quoted.⁽²⁾ Residential / business subscribers.⁽³⁾Cost of one pulse. For subscribers, connected to analogue telephone exchange, local call is time independent and is equal to the cost of one pulse. For subscribers, connected to the digital exchange the local call is charged 1 pulse per 5 minutes during peak hours and 1 pulse per 9 minutes during peak-off hours.⁽⁴⁾Distance and time dependent. The cost for distance longer than 100 km during peak hours is quoted.⁽⁵⁾ Distance and time dependent. The cost for International call to the zone, covering European countries is quoted.