2018 Argentina - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 31 Oct 2018 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 117

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Publication Overview

This report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in Argentina’s telecommunications market. The report analyses the fixed-line, mobile and broadband sectors. Subjects include:

Market and industry analyses, trends and developments;
Facts, figures and statistics;
Industry and regulatory issues;
Infrastructure developments;
Major Players, Revenues, Subscribers, ARPU, MoU;
Mobile Voice and Data Markets;
Broadband (FttP, DSL, cable, wireless);
Mobile subscribers and ARPU;
Broadband market forecasts;
Government policies affecting the telecoms industry;
Market liberalisation and industry issues;
Telecoms operators – privatisation, IPOs, acquisitions, new licences;
Mobile technologies (GSM; 3G, HSPA, LTE, 5G).

Researcher:- Henry Lancaster
Current publication date:- October 2018 (17th Edition)

Executive Summary

Argentinian telcos scale down investments in response to harsh economic climate

Argentina has an advanced telecom infrastructure though considerable investment is still required to update services in rural areas. To meet pent up demand for telecom services the government has embarked on a large-scale National Broadband Plan. In August 2016 the state-owned infrastructure operator ARSAT launched a project to extend broadband services to some 1,200 rural communities. By mid-2018 this project was about 75% complete.

Although there are numerous operators licensed to provide services, there remains insufficient competition. The provision of both broadband and mobile services is dominated by a few key players, including Movistar, Telecom Argentina and Claro. The broadband sector is dominated by Movistar and Telecom Argentina. The market saw some consolidation after Telecom Argentina acquired Cablevisión, the cable broadband unit of Grupo Clarín, in January 2018. Grupo Clarín retains an interest in the mobile segment following its January 2016 acquisition of Nextel Argentina.

Mobile penetration is about 138%, with a slight fall in the number of subscribers in recent years following a long period of steady annual growth. Many Argentineans own more than one SIM card though pricing competition among operators has reduced the incentive for multiple-SIM card ownership. Claro, Telecom Personal and Movistar closely compete in the market, with Nextel Argentina having a small market share. The regulator has encouraged the market entry of additional MVNOs to increase competition.

Significant improvements to the capacity of mobile networks are anticipated during the next few years following the auction of spectrum in the 700MHz and 1700-2100MHz bands, which increased the available spectrum for operators to 380MHz. In addition, the regulator is aiming to reassign 600MHz spectrum from pay-TV services for mobile broadband use.

Argentina has one of the highest broadband penetration rates in Latin America. The country’s economic and political difficulties during the last decade have impacted on sector investments, though there have been steady improvements in recent quarters. A large tranch of investment has been earmarked to expand fibre networks beyond certain areas of the main cities. This work has had a positive effect on the delivery of services, with the average download speed having increased from 5.3Mb/s in the first quarter of 2016 to 13.2Mb/s by the second quarter of 2018.

This report provides an overview of Argentina’s telecom market and regulatory environment, accompanied by statistical data and analyses on recent market developments. The report also covers the fixed and fixed-wireless broadband markets, as also developments in the mobile voice and data segments.

Key developments:

Telecom Argentina scales down investment in response to macro-economic difficulties;
Construction started on the ARBR submarine cable between Argentina and Brazil;
Fixed-number portability finally rolled out;
Telecom Argentina completes merger with Cablevisión;
Federal Fibre-Optic Network aiming to connect 2,600 localities across the country;
Argentina develops local link to the Atlantic Cable System (ACSea) in partnership with Brazil;
Report update includes the regulator's market update to March 2018, telcos' operating data to Q2 2018, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Claro, Nextel Argentina, Nuestro Móvil, Libre.ar, Virgin Mobile, Tesacom, Movistar (Telefónica de Argentina), Telecom Argentina (Personal), Grupo Clarín, Cablevisión, VeloCom, Netizen, Phonevision/Omnivision, Telpin, DirecTV, Supercanal, Telecentro, Red Intercable, ARSAT, MercadoLibre, IPLAN, IP-TEL, Fecotel, Fecosur, COTEL, Cotecal, INVAP.

Henry Lancaster
October 2018

Key statistics

Country overview

Telecommunications market

Historical overview
Market analysis

Regulatory environment

Regulatory authority

Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones (ENACOM)

Argentina Digital Act
Interconnect
Number Portability (NP)
Single licence

Fixed network operators

Overview of operators
Telefónica de Argentina (Movistar)
Telecom Argentina
Telecom cooperatives
Telmex
IPLAN

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network

Fixed-line statistics

International infrastructure

Submarine cable networks
Satellite networks

Wholesale

Broadband market

Introduction and statistical overview

Market analysis
Broadband statistics
National Broadband Plan
Forecasts – broadband subscribers – 2019; 2021 2023

Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks

Cablevisión (FiberTel)

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks

Movistar (Telefónica Argentina/Speedy)
Telecom Argentina (Arnet)

Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
Other fixed broadband services

Wireless broadband
Satellite broadband

Digital economy

E-government
E-education
E-commerce

Overview of e-commerce in Argentina
MercadoLibre

Online banking

Mobile communications

Market analysis
Mobile statistics

General statistics
Mobile data
Mobile broadband
Forecasts – mobile subscribers – 2019; 2021; 2023

Regulatory issues

Spectrum auctions
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Calling Party Pays (CCP)
Roaming

Mobile infrastructure

Other infrastructure developments

Major mobile operators

Claro (previously CTI Móvil)
Telecom Personal
Movistar
Nextel Argentina
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Argentina – 2018 (e)
Table 2 – Evolution of GDP in Argentina – 2000 – 2018
Table 3 – Telecom revenue by segment (ARS) – 2013 – 2018
Table 4 – Investment by sector (ARS) – 2013 – 2018
Table 5 – Telefónica de Argentina fixed lines in service – 2000 – 2018
Table 6 – Telefónica de Argentina financial data – 2014 – 2018
Table 7 – Telecom Argentina financial data – 2011 – 2018
Table 8 – Telecom Argentina domestic revenue by service – 2011 – 2018
Table 9 – Telecom Argentina fixed lines in service – 2000 – 2018
Table 10 – Telmex fixed-line subscribers – 2013 – 2018
Table 11 – Telmex fixed-line revenue – 2013 – 2018
Table 12 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1996 – 2009
Table 13 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2010 – 2018
Table 14 – International bandwidth – 2000 – 2016
Table 15 – Movistar wholesale accesses – 2005 – 2017
Table 16 – Broadband market share by technology – 2016 – 2018
Table 17 – Broadband market share by provider – 2003 – 2015
Table 18 – Historic - Internet users and user penetration – 1996 – 2009
Table 19 – Internet users and user penetration – 2010 – 2018
Table 20 – Fixed-line internet subscribers and penetration rates – 2000 – 2018
Table 21 – Fixed broadband subscribers and penetration rates – 2001 – 2018
Table 22 – Fixed-line broadband and dial-up subscribers – 2008 – 2018
Table 23 – Fixed internet services revenue – 2013 – 2018
Table 24 – Fixed internet services ARPU – 2013 – 2018
Table 25 – Fixed internet subscriptions by access speed – 2017 – 2018
Table 26 – Forecast broadband subscribers – 2019; 2021; 2023
Table 27 – Cable modem subscribers and penetration rates – 2001 – 2018
Table 28 – Historic - FiberTel broadband subscribers – 2003 – 2016
Table 29 – DSL subscribers and penetration rates – 2001 – 2018
Table 30 – Movistar broadband subscribers – 2001 – 2018
Table 31 – Telecom Argentina – broadband subscribers – 2003 – 2018
Table 32 – Telecom Argentina – broadband ARPU – 2011 – 2018
Table 33 – Movistar FttX broadband subscribers – 2016 – 2018
Table 34 – Fibre broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2018
Table 35 – Fixed wireless broadband subscribers – 2010 – 2018
Table 36 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration – 1998 – 2009
Table 37 – Mobile subscribers and penetration – 2010 – 2019
Table 38 – Mobile subscriber annual change – 2009 – 2018
Table 39 – Historic - Mobile operators’ market share – 1999 – 2009
Table 40 – Mobile operators’ market share – 2010 – 2017
Table 41 – Mobile prepaid/postpaid ratio – 2013 – 2018
Table 42 – Mobile market revenue and investment – 2013 – 2018
Table 43 – Mobile annualised ARPU – 2013 – 2018
Table 44 – SMS traffic – 2007 – 2018
Table 45 – Active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration rate – 2010 – 2018
Table 46 – Forecast mobile subscribers – 2019; 2023; 2023
Table 47 – Annual mobile numbers ported – 2012 – 2018
Table 48 – Movistar LTE subscribers and penetration – 2016 – 2018
Table 49 –LTE base stations in service – 2015 – 2018
Table 50 – Historic - Claro – mobile subscribers – 1999 – 2009
Table 51 – Claro – mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2018
Table 52 – Claro – wireless revenue – 2012 – 2018
Table 53 – Telecom Personal – mobile subscribers, annual change – 1999 – 2018
Table 54 – Personal – prepaid, contract, mobile broadband subscribers – 2013 – 2018
Table 55 – Personal – mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2018
Table 56 – Personal – mobile service revenue – 2012 – 2018
Table 57 – Personal – mobile data and voice usage per month– 2013 – 2018
Table 58 – Historic - Movistar – mobile subscribers – 1999 – 2009
Table 59 – Movistar – mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2018
Table 60 – Movistar – mobile revenue – 2009 – 2018
Table 61 – Movistar – blended mobile ARPU – 2008 – 2018
Table 62 – Historic - Nextel mobile revenue – 2012 – 2015
Table 63 – Historic - Nextel mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2015
Table 64 – Historic - Nextel – mobile subscribers – 2002 – 2015

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Telecom revenue by segment (ARS) – 2013 – 2018
Chart 2 – Telefónica de Argentina fixed lines in service – 2000 – 2018
Chart 3 – Telefónica de Argentina financial data – 2014 – 2018
Chart 4 – Telecom Argentina domestic revenue by service – 2011 – 2018
Chart 5 – Evolution of fixed lines in Argentina – 2005 – 2018
Chart 6 – Internet users and user penetration – 2005 – 2018
Chart 7 – Fixed-line internet subscribers and penetration rates – 2005 – 2018
Chart 8 – Mobile subscribers and penetration – 2005 – 2019
Chart 9 – Mobile market share at a glance – 2004 – 2017

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Argentina

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2018 Argentina - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Argentinian telcos scale down investments in response to harsh economic climate

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Fixed network operators

Telecommunications infrastructure

Broadband market

Digital economy

Mobile communications

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views