The regulator also said the broadband penetration rate per 100 households rose by 3.3 percentage points to 45.2% on the year in 2012.
Of a total 3.5 million broadband connections, nearly 0.9 million connections were in rural areas at the end of 2012, up 22.2% from a year ago, and 2.67 million connections were in urban areas, up 3.9% from 2011.
According to ANCOM, of overall fixed-line broadband connections, a total 3.15 million connections (88.9%) are based on the FTTx technology, which uses fiber-optic cables.
Data provided by fixed-line telecom operators show that 2012 brought a decline both in the number of fixed lines (a 5.4% decrease from 2011, down to 4.43 million lines), and in the number of subscribers (a 0.6% decrease down to 4.01 million subscribers).
Thus, a lower number of fixed lines triggered a slight decrease in the penetration rate of fixed telephony per 100 inhabitants, down to 23.2%, and in the penetration rate of fixed telephony per 100 households, down to 53.6%.