Latin America - Telecoms, Mobile, & Broadband Overview & Analysis 2008

Synopsis

While Latin America’s fixed lines stagnate at 18% teledensity, mobile subscribers have overtaken their fixed-line counterparts in every country except Cuba. Paraguay leads the trend, with twelve mobile phones for every fixed line in service. Mobile penetration in Latin America and the Caribbean was over 66% in early 2008, well above the world average, which was around 46%. Broadband grew at an annual rate of around 40% in 2007, but broadband penetration at year-end was only 3.4%, considerably less than the global average of 5.9%. Some countries are leapfrogging into new applications such as VoIP, WiMAX, and triple play, while governments struggle to bridge the digital divide and find a solution to the region’s inadequate rural telephony. Accompanied by market statistics, this report gives an overview of major developments in the Latin American telecoms market in 2007 and early 2008.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Key highlights – 2007 - 2008
  • 2.1 Telecom market overview
  • 2.2 Regulatory environment
    • 2.2.1 Privatisation
    • 2.2.2 Liberalisation
    • 2.2.3 Renationalisation
  • 2.3 Infrastructure
    • 2.3.1 VoIP
  • 2.4 Major telecom players
  • 2.5 Internet
  • 2.6 Broadband
    • 2.6.1 WiMAX
• 3. Convergence
  • 3.1 Triple play models
    • 3.1.1 Regulatory issues
  • 3.2 Pay TV
  • 3.3 Broadband TV (IPTV)
  • 3.4 Digital Terrestrial TV
  • 3.5 Mobile communications
    • 3.5.1 Major mobile companies
    • 3.5.2 Mobile technologies
    • 3.5.3 Third Generation mobile
    • 3.5.4 Mobile data services
• 4. Related Annual Reports
• 5. Related reports

• Table 1 – Top 10 Latin American countries for fixed lines in service – 2006 - 2007
• Table 2 – Top ten Latin American fixed-line operators by revenue - 2007
• Table 3 – Top ten Latin American fixed-line operators by lines in service - 2006 - 2007
• Table 4 – Internet users and penetration – top 12 countries for users – 2007
• Table 5 – Internet users and penetration – top 12 countries for penetration – 2007
• Table 6 – Broadband subscribers and penetration – major countries – 2006 - 2007
• Table 7 – Cable TV subscribers and penetration – major countries – 2006 - 2007
• Table 8 – Top 10 Latin American countries for mobile subscribers – 2007
• Table 9 – Major international mobile operators – subscribers and market share – 2006 - 2007
• Table 10 – Mobile subscribers by digital technology - 2003 - 2007

• Exhibit 1 – Regulatory status of VoIP in selected Latin American countries