Results from Romania's major mobile operators show that although the total number of mobile telephony users was down in 2011, the traffic was up, according to figures released recently by The National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM). The total number of active mobile phone users at end 2011 was 23.4 million: down 1 percent on the mid year figure and 4 percent less than the total at the end of 2010.

But these users talked more on the phone. Voice traffic was up with users registering almost 58 billion minutes of talk time in 2011 – 11 percent higher than in 2010. SMS traffic was also higher – more than 11 billion texts sent, an increase of 41 percent on 2010.

Average monthly mobile use also rose in the second half of 2011. On average each month, each user made 3 hours 26 minutes of calls – up 7 minutes on the first half of 2011 – while users sent an average of 43 texts a month in the second half of 2011, 7 more than during the first half.

Video call traffic had a turbulent year. A massive 81 percent increase over the first half of the year followed by a 10 percent fall in the second half. Of total traffic, prepaid users still account for more, 55 percent prepaid and 45 percent post paid at the end of 2011.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com