The Telecommunications, Radiocommunications and Broadcasting Regulator (TRBR) is pleased to present its fifth Telecommunications Sector Report, reporting on the state of the telecommunications and ICT market, trends, and developments in the Vanuatu in 2020, but most importantly to measure the Vanuatu’s progress towards achieving the ECO 2.9 of the National Sustainable Development Plans and Goal 9 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Sector Report also provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of Tropical Cyclone Harold and COVID-19 in the telecommunication sector and is primarily aimed at TRBR’s stakeholders, Government, Industry, Aid Donors and more generally the people of Vanuatu.
The Vanuatu telecommunications sector has continued to witness significant changes in 2020. With the uptake in mobile services and smartphones adoption, the increasing availability of 3G and 4G has stimulated access to data services as the two mobile operators continue to offer data promotions with increased value at affordable prices. Some key highlights from the Sector report are:
- Mobile subscription decreased by 7% in 2020
- Mobile penetration fell to 84%
- Mobile data revenue grew by 20%
- Mobile data downloads increased by 66% to 6,300 terabytes in 2020
- Gross market revenue declined by 2%, however long run trend still shows positive growth as
- Mobile data revenue continues to dominate the mobile market during this pandemic with increasing demand of online contents such as OTT services, E-Learning, Zoom Meeting platform, YouTube and Netflix which has gain popularity in this COVID-19 situation.
The TRBR would like to thank all its stakeholders for actively contributing one way or the other to the growth of the telecommunication industry. TRBR hopes you find this report interesting and useful in attaining the goals of a connected Vanuatu.