2009 Chile - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

BuddeComm’s annual publication, Chile - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts, profiles the most mature telecom market in Latin America and the region’s pioneer when it comes to new technologies. 

In fact, Chile was the first country in Latin America to see services such as mobile WiMAX, IPTV, wireless TVoIP, triple play, EDGE, and mobile voice-to-text, among others. It was the second country in the region, after Puerto Rico, to have 3G mobile services. 

The Chilean telecom market is expected to continue growing throughout the recession, albeit at a reduced rate. Financial risk appears to be moderate, and the country’s macroeconomic environment is expected to remain sound. Chile is often portrayed as a role model by the international business community for its adoption of progressive social policies together with a competitive free market approach. 

In the broadband sector, Chile is the uncontested regional leader. In the telephony sector, however, Chile lags behind in terms of fixed-line teledensity and mobile penetration, leaving considerable space for growth considering that the country’s GDP per capita is one of the region’s highest.  

This report presents a concise overview of sector liberalisation and privatisation in Chile; government initiatives and regulations in the telecom industry; company profiles for the major operators in the various telecom sectors; the development of mobile and broadband technologies; the emergence of convergence and IP solutions; essential country and operator statistics in all telecom sectors; and scenario forecasts for the fixed-line, mobile, and broadband markets.

Key highlights:

·         In Chile’s liberalised fixed-line market, several operators provide fixed telephony in competition with the incumbent Telefónica Chile, using technologies based on triple play, WLL, VoIP, and NGN. The fixed-line sector is experiencing marginal growth thanks to the efforts of start-up companies.

·         Chile has lost its South American leadership in terms of mobile penetration, having been overtaken by Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Paraguay. Nevertheless, Chile’s mobile market remains strong, with an average of nine out of ten people owning a mobile phone.

·         Chile’s Internet and broadband penetration rates are the highest in South America. This is due to the country’s relatively high GDP, its receptivity towards new technologies, and its success in creating competition between broadband providers, whereas in most other Latin American countries the incumbent fixed-line operators continue to monopolise ADSL despite liberalisation.

·         In terms of convergence, Chile is the uncontested regional leader with VTR – Latin America’s first triple player – and several other companies all offering triple play packages.

Chile key telecom statistics – September 2008

(Source: BuddeComm based on industry sources)

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.

The following notes provide some background to our scenario forecasting methodology:

·         This report includes what we term scenario forecasts. By describing long-range scenarios we identify a band within which we expect market growth to occur. The associated text describes what we see as the most likely growth trend within this band.

·         The projections shown in the tables in this report are based on our own historical information, as well as on telecommunication sector statistics from official and non-official, national and international sources. We assume a possible deviation of 15-20% around this data.

·         All statistics for GDP, revenue, etc are shown in US$, in order to maintain consistency within and between markets. At the same time we acknowledge that this can introduce some irregularities.

For those needing high-level strategic information and objective analysis on this region, this 70+ page report is essential reading and gives further information on:

·         Regulatory developments and spectrum auctions;

·         Fixed-line developments, including the adoption of alternative technologies such as VoIP;

·         Mobile telephony growth and the uptake of mobile data services;

·         Broadband growth and incursions into wireless technologies such as WiMAX;

·         Convergence, triple play, IPTV, and other emerging technologies;

·         Scenario forecasts for the fixed-line, mobile, and broadband markets.