Guatemala Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: July 2025

Report Pages: 123

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

MIC takes full control over Tigo Guatemala

Guatemala’s telecom infrastructure is relatively poor for the region, the result of underinvestment. However, there has been some stimulus recently from the US, which has earmarked up to $1.9 billion for local projects aimed at improving telecom connectivity and services across Central America. It is hoped that these upgrades would dissuade migration to the US by enabling locals to take advantage of ICT services locally.

In addition, the government and telecom regulator have stepped up their investment efforts, which has resulted in a steady growth in the number of fixed lines. In turn, this has stimulated the take-up of fixed broadband. The local telco Tigo Guatemala in late 2021 became wholly-owned by Millicom, and the unit now accounts for the largest proportion of MIC’s revenue.

Two new submarine cables are due for completion later in 2022. Improved international connectivity should drive further uptake of both fixed and mobile broadband services.

Key players including Tigo Guatemala and América Móvil are regional powerhouses which can tap into expertise and financial resources to bolster their Guatemalan businesses. The acquisition of Telefónica’s Guatemala business by América Móvil in 2019 created a strong competitor to Millicom, which dominates the mobile sector. Intense competition among the operators has helped to improve services and lower prices for end-users.

Key developments:

Viasat set do deliver satellite broadband services across Guatemala;
COMNET secures additional capacity to provide satellite broadband services;
Regulator approves the reorder of some spectrum in the 700MHz band, aims to auction 60MHz in the band;
América Móvil spins off its tower operation;
South Pacific Cable is made ready for service;
Guatemala to connect to the Aurora cable system later in 2022;
Report update includes the regulator’s market data to December 2021, operators’ data to Q1 2022, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

América Móvil (Movistar, Claro, Telgua), Tigo (Millicom), Telefónica, Guatel, Cablenet, Unitel, Comcel, A-Tel, Columbus Business Solutions, Ufinet, Convergence Communications.

Key statistics
Regional Latin America Market Comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI versus GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview
Telecommunications market

Historic overview

Regulatory environment

Regulatory authority
Fixed-line developments

Telecom sector liberalisation
Privatisation of Guatel/Telgua
CAFTA-DR
Interconnection
Foreign investments

Mobile market developments

Spectrum auctions

Mobile market

Market analysis

Mobile statistics
Mobile voice services
Mobile broadband

Mobile infrastructure

Analogue networks
Digital networks
Other infrastructure developments

Major mobile operators

Tigo Guatemala (Millicom)
Claro (América Móvil)
Movistar
RED (Intelfon)

Mobile content and applications

M-payment

Fixed-line broadband market

Market analysis
Broadband statistics

Fixed network operators

Claro/Telgua (América Móvil)
Movistar (Telefónica – now América Móvil)

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network

Public payphones

International infrastructure

Interconnection with other Central American countries
Submarine cable networks
SAm-1
ARCOS-1
AMX-1
South Pacific Cable System (SPCS)
Aurora
Satellite networks

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Guatemala – 2022 (e)
Table 2 – Evolution of GDP in Guatemala – 2012 – 2022
Table 3 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 4 – Change in the proportion of prepaid/postpaid mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 5 – Change in the number of prepaid/postpaid mobile subscribers (million) – 2014 – 2021
Table 6 – Mobile subscribers by operator (regulator data) (million) – 2012 – 2021
Table 7 – Market share by mobile operator – 2012 – 2021
Table 8 – Mobile traffic by operator (billion minutes) – 2014 – 2021
Table 9 – Mobile traffic market share by operator – 2014 – 2021
Table 10 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 11 – Increase in the number of Tigo Guatemala’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Table 12 – Tigo Guatemala financial data ($ million) – 2014 – 2022
Table 13 – Tigo Guatemala financial data (GTQ million) – 2020 – 2022
Table 14 – Change in the number of Claro’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 15 – Change in the number of Movistar Guatemala’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 16 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2012 – 2022
Table 17 – Fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration rates – 2012 – 2027
Table 18 – Fixed lines by main operator (thousand) – 2012 – 2021
Table 19 – Fixed Line voice traffic by operator (million minutes) – 2018 – 2021
Table 20 – Fixed lines by minor operator – 2012 – 2021
Table 21 – Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 22 – Public payphones in service – 2012 – 2022
Table 23 – Historic - Evolution of GDP in Guatemala – 2000 – 2011
Table 24 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1996 – 2011
Table 25 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate – 1997 – 2011
Table 26 – Historic - Fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration rates – 2005 – 2011
Table 27 – Historic - Mobile prepaid/postpaid ratio – 2002 – 2011
Table 28 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1997 – 2011
Table 29 – Historic - Active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2011
Table 30 – Historic - Mobile subscribers by operator (regulator data) (million) – 2003 – 2011
Table 31 – Historic - Market share by mobile operator – 2000 – 2011
Table 32 – Historic - Tigo Guatemala mobile subscribers – 2000 – 2011
Table 33 – Historic - Claro - mobile subscribers – 2000 – 2011
Table 34 – Historic - Movistar Guatemala mobile subscribers – 2003 – 2011

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders
Chart 2 – Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers
Chart 3 – Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents
Chart 4 – Latin America - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 – Latin America – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – South America mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Central America – mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – South America – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 9 – Central America – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 10 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 11 – Change in the proportion of prepaid/postpaid mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 12 – Change in the number of prepaid/postpaid mobile subscribers – 2014 – 2021
Chart 13 – Mobile subscribers by operator (regulator data) – 2012 – 2021
Chart 14 – Market share by mobile operator – 2012 – 2021
Chart 15 – Mobile traffic by operator – 2014 – 2021
Chart 16 – Mobile traffic market share by operator – 2014 – 2021
Chart 17 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 18 – Increase in the number of Tigo Guatemala’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Chart 19 – Tigo Guatemala financial data – 2014 – 2022
Chart 20 – Tigo Guatemala financial data (GTQ) – 2020 – 2022
Chart 21 – Change in the number of Claro’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 22 – Change in the number of Movistar Guatemala’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 23 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2012 – 2022
Chart 24 – Fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration rates – 2012 – 2027
Chart 25 – Fixed lines by main operator – 2012 – 2021
Chart 26 – Fixed Line voice traffic by operator – 2018 – 2021
Chart 27 – Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Chart 28 – Public payphones in service – 2012 – 2021

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Latin America
Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – Latin America – Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 – Latin America – Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 – Latin America – Market Emergents and market developments
Exhibit 6 – Submarine cable network links to Guatemala - 2021

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Guatemala Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

MIC takes full control over Tigo Guatemala

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Latin America Market Comparison

Country overview

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Fixed network operators

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views