About the Sector

Development of the Electronic Communications Sector

At present the electronic communications activities in the Republic of Lithuania are regulated in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Electronic Communications which regulates public relations connected to the electronic communication services, networks and associated measures and services as well as the use of electronic communication resources. Such public relations are also connected with radio equipment, terminal equipment and electromagnetic compatibility.

Fixed Telephone Connection

Public fixed communications network shall mean a public communications network with fixed termination points.

Public fixed telephone services shall mean public telephone services provided over the public fixed communications network.

In 2022 the right to engage in public fixed telephone connection network and/or service provision activities was held by 36 economic entities.

The total number of subscribers of the fixed telephone connection services reached 249,6 thousand. Fixed telephony penetration (number of fixed telephone communication lines per 100 persons) was 8,1.

Public Mobile Connection

Public mobile communications network shall mean a public communications network with non-fixed termination points.

Public mobile telephone services shall mean public telephone services provided on the public mobile communications network.

In 2022 the right to engage in public mobile telephone connection network and/or service provision activities was held by 26 economic entities.

The total number of active subscribers of the mobile telephone connection services in that year reached 3826 thausand. Mobile telephony penetration (number of mobile telephone communication lines per 100 persons) was 134.

Broadband Internet Access

The fast broadband service shall mean an electronic communications service provided through broadband network with a data transfer speed of at least 30 Mbps.

In 2022 the Broadband Internet access services were provided by 85 providers.

The penetration of the broadband network (the number of subscribers per 100 households) in  2022 reached 58%.

Projects on RAIN Information Technology Broadband Network for Rural Areas

The implementation of RAIN projects in the rural areas had a significant role on the development of broadband in the country.

Due to low density of population, current social problems and related minimal financial capacities as well as due to high development costs of the communication infrastructure and low initial demand for commercial broadband connection and the Internet services, rural areas are often not attractive for commercial activities. This contributes to the aggravation of social and economic gaps between rural and urban areas.

The implementation of the RAIN Project ended with the construction of optical paths to 450 rural neighbourhoods of the country thus creating a backbone network of especially high data transmission bandwidth which will allow providing the Internet access services to the population of rural areas, non-governmental organizations, public organizations and business enterprises. The Project created 3357 kilometers broadband network structure.

The implementation of the RAIN-2 Project ended the construction of 5755 kilometer optical fiber cable lines. It will be brought to 982 rural neighbourhoods.

98,7% population of rural areas, non-governmental organizations, public organizations and business enterprises have access to broadband netvork services.

The implementation of the RAIN and RAIN-2 projects collectively made possible broudband network infrastructure reach 1400 rural areas of the country.

In line with Digital Agenda the Lithuanian government  develop the high-speed broadband communication infrastructure in areas where the development of the infrastructure and the provision of electronic services cannot be ensured by the market, and to promote competition in the market for broadband communication as well as the use of the broadband communication services.

In order to achieve the objectives mentioned above, in 2018 the implementation of the third stage of broadband development in rural areas began – the new generation Internet access infrastructure development project NGA. During the implementation of the project, the next-generation Internet access infrastructure is being further developed in white territories, where the market cannot ensure the development of this infrastructure and the provision of high-speed Internet connection services, by building towers and laying fiber optic cable lines. It is planned to build about 20 communication towers and lay about 1,210 km of fiber optic cable lines.

The newly created mobile and fixed communication infrastructure will reach about 254,000 households, whose territories will be covered by next-generation broadband during the project. The project is planned to be implemented in 2023.

Digital Television 

In 2022 627,2 thousand subscribers used pay television (pay-TV) services. The number of IPTV service subscribers exceeded the number of users using cable TV networks. In 2022 the number of IPTV subscribers was 51,2 percent of all pay TV subscribers - their number increased by 3,7 percent during the year. 

In 2022 digital television services were provided by 40 providers.