Executive summary
Uruguay, a small country but a regional leader in both fixed and mobile telecoms
Uruguay is one of the most advanced countries in Latin America, with a high standard of education, a well-developed social security and welfare system, and liberal laws regarding social issues. Excepting Puerto Rico and a few of the wealthier Caribbean islands, Uruguay has the region’s highest GDP per capita and lowest poverty rates. Thanks to its skilled workforce and solid infrastructure, Uruguay enjoys an excellent reputation with multinationals and international investors.
Uruguay’s fixed-line network has good coverage of all the country, though half the telephone lines are in Montevideo, where most modern facilities are centred. Despite being a monopoly, Uruguay’s local fixed-line sector has achieved the second highest teledensity in Latin America after Costa Rica. The state-owned incumbent, Antel, is the country’s exclusive local fixed-line operator, but competes with other companies in long-distance telephony.
Internet services are open to competition, but the broadband sector is heavily dominated by Antel, the only ADSL provider. Fixed wireless operator Dedicado has a small – and dwindling – market share.
In terms of broadband penetration, Uruguay ranks third in Latin America after Argentina and Chile. But the high broadband penetration figures hide a less glowing picture: in terms of download speed, Uruguay ranks 11th out of 18 countries in South and Central America. Bandwidth shortage and lack of competition have pushed up broadband prices, and ADSL connections are slower than the rest of Latin America. ADSL plans above 5Mb/s are about twice as expensive as similar services in neighbouring Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. On the other hand, because of the Uruguayan government’s effort to make basic broadband accessible to all Uruguayans, low-speed access has traditionally been cheap.
Broadband services are confined to ADSL and wireless technologies. Uruguay is one of the few countries in the world where broadband access via cable modem does not exist. Uruguay’s cable networks are well equipped technologically and digital cable TV is widely available, but telecom law prohibits data transmission over pay-TV networks. There has been talk of regulatory changes to legalise cable broadband, as it would foster some much-needed competition in the broadband sector.
Uruguay’s mobile penetration is the second highest in South and Central America after Panama, and is still growing well past the 100% threshold. With the country’s low level of poverty, almost all of the population can afford a mobile phone, and many Uruguayans own two handsets.
Three players compete in the Uruguayan mobile market: state-owned Antel, Telefónica’s Movistar, and América Móvil’s Claro. Antel is the mobile market leader, followed closely by Movistar.
All three mobile operators offer mobile broadband as well as 3G services. Mobile broadband is the fastest growing telecom sector by far. Operators have achieved nationwide UMTS coverage, attracting a growing number of subscribers outside of Montevideo. An estimated 10% of the population have opted for mobile broadband, and the number of subscribers is soaring.
Market highlights:
- Only Antel may provide Internet telephony in Uruguay; this, however, does not affect calls made through foreign-based operators such as Skype or Google, nor does it forbid companies from using IP telephony for internal communication.
- A new fibre-optic submarine cable between Uruguay and Argentina, scheduled to become operational by mid-2011, is expected to increase Internet bandwidth in Uruguay fivefold or more. This should help boost broadband speeds and reduce prices.
- A service dubbed Universal Hogares or Internet for All aims to connect every Uruguayan home to the Internet. The service is available to all those who already have a fixed telephone line, or those who acquire one, and offers basic ADSL access with no monthly fees.
- Antel is planning to roll out an FttH network in 2011/12.
- The Uruguayan government has abandoned the DVB standard in favour of ISDB-Tb (the Brazilian version of Japan’s ISDB-T), and is starting to implement Digital Terrestrial TV in 2011/2012.
Uruguay – key telecom parameters – 2009 - 2010
Category
| 2009
| 2010 (e)
|
|---|
Fixed-line service
|
|---|
Total lines in service
| 954,000
| 960,000
|
Annual growth
| -0.5%
| 0.6%
|
Teledensity
| 28.5%
| 28.6%
|
Broadband
|
|---|
Total number of subscribers
| 317,000
| 380,000
|
Annual growth
| 29%
| 20%
|
Penetration rate
| 9.5%
| 11.3%
|
Mobile telephony subscribers
|
|---|
Total number of subscribers (million)
| 4.15
| 4.36
|
Annual growth
| 18%
| 5%
|
Mobile penetration rate
| 124%
| 130%
|
(Source: BuddeComm)
Transparent regulations, high living standards, growing domestic consumption, and a cheap labour force are expected to continue drawing international capital to Uruguay, one of the safest nations in Latin America – peaceful, politically stable, free from corruption, and not prone to natural disasters. The report covers trends and developments in the fixed-line, mobile, Internet, broadband, and pay-TV markets. Subjects include:
- Market and industry analyses, trends and developments;
- Facts, figures, and statistics;
- Government policies and regulatory issues;
- Major players (fixed, mobile, broadband, and pay TV);
- Infrastructure developments;
- Internet and fixed broadband market (ADSL and wireless);
- Mobile market (including 3G and mobile broadband).
Lucia Bibolini
February 2011
