The number of fixed-line telephone subscribers in Cambodia increased by four per cent in 2012 compared to 2011, standing in sharp contrast to a mobile phone subscriber growth of 22 per cent in the same period, statistics show.

According to figures from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Cambodia had 584,475 fixed or landline subscribers in 2012, compared to 559,381 in 2011.

Mobile phone subscribers, meanwhile, reached 19.1 million last year, compared with 15.7 million in 2011.

Ek Vandy, secretary of state at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, said it was “an automatic trend” that mobile phone subscribers are increasing much more than fixed-line customers.

According to Kirill Mankovsky, chief marketing officer of Smart, fixed-line networks in Cambodia “are trailing far behind mobile networks in terms of their market share and market growth during the last 5 years. Respectively, their investment potential is very limited”.