The Electronic and Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) estimates that approximately 77% of Albanian families have broadband Internet access from fixed lines.
According to the data of 2021, this indicator has increased by 7 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Despite the continuous growth in recent years, the figures show that the gap between urban and rural areas continues to be very high. The data show an average internet penetration rate through fixed networks in urban areas of 30% and in rural areas an average of 8%.
Based on regional data in 2021, it is observed that the districts with the highest rates of urban penetration are Tirana and Korça, respectively with 43.55% and 27.8%, while Durrës is the district with the highest rate of rural penetration around 23%, followed by Tirana, Shkodra and Lezha with 10% each.
AKEP calculates Internet penetration indicators as the total number of fixed connections against the number of households and population. However, the total number of connections includes a significant number of business subscribers, although AKEP’s statistics do not provide a breakdown by customer category.
Access to the Internet is increasingly becoming a necessity in receiving public services, particularly now as most government services are provided by eAlbania. This is problematic for those living in rural areas or those with low internet literacy.
Despite the considerable gap that exists, Albania has not yet managed to build a financing scheme for extending networks in areas where there is no commercial interest from private operators.
