Honduras Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: December 2023

Report Pages: 125

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Honduran government providing free internet to 75,000 households

Honduras is among the poorest countries in Central America and has long been plagued by an unstable political framework which has rendered telecom sector reform difficult. This has created real difficulties for telcos as well as consumers. Fixed-line teledensity, at only 4.9%, is significantly lower than the Latin American and Caribbean average. Poor fixed-line infrastructure has been exacerbated by low investment and topographical difficulties which have made investment in rural areas unattractive or uneconomical. Consequently, the internet has been slow to develop. DSL and cable modem technologies are available but are relatively expensive and thus take-up has been low thus far, while higher speed services are largely restricted to the major urban centres. Nevertheless, the demand for broadband is steadily increasing and there has been some investment in network upgrades to fibre-based infrastructure.

On the positive side, these factors have encouraged consumer take-up of mobile services, a sector where there is lively competition supported by international investment. Even so, mobile penetration is substantially below the regional average. Revenue growth from the mobile sector looks promising in coming years as operators invest in their networks, expand their reach and upgrade their capabilities to accommodate mobile broadband services. Mobile data as a proportion of overall mobile revenue has increased steadily, though low-end SMS services will continue to account for the bulk of data revenue for some years.

Political developments during the last few years have not facilitated the much-needed reform of legislation governing the telecoms sector. Partly this is due to political stalemate and ineffective legislators, but underlying the difficulties are the close ties between executives at the incumbent Hondutel and key members of the government.

BuddeComm notes that the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on the telecoms market. On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, has offset such pressures. In many markets the net effect has been a reduced (and sometimes negative) subscriber growth, which will continue into 2021.

Overall progress towards 5G has been postponed or curtailed in some countries.

Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report.

The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.

Key Developments:

Government provides free internet to around 75,000 households in Honduras;
BT Group sells its operations and infrastructure in Latin America to CIH Telecommunications Americas;
Millicom selects US-based Affirmed Networks to deploy cloud-based, 5G-ready core network for its Latin America units;
Regulator frees up 3.5GHz spectrum for mobile use;
Tigo and Amazon Web Services partner to offer cloud services;
Report update includes the regulator's market data to December 2020, telcos' operational data updates to Q4 2020, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of Covid-19 on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Hondutel, Comunitel, MultiData, Millicom (Tigo), Digicel, América Móvil (Claro), National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel),

Key statistics
Regional Latin America Market Comparison

Telecom Maturity Index by tier

Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
South America Telecom Maturity Index
Central America Telecom Maturity Index

TMI versus GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Country overview
Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Economic considerations and responses
Subscribers
Infrastructure

Telecommunications market

Historical overview

Regulatory environment

Regulatory authority
Fixed-line developments

Privatisation
CAFTA-DR
Foreign investment
Telecom sector liberalisation
‘Telephony for All’ program

Mobile market developments

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Spectrum auctions

Mobile market

Market analysis
Mobile statistics

Mobile voice
Mobile data
Mobile broadband

Mobile infrastructure

4G (LTE)
3G

Major mobile operators

Tigo Honduras
Claro Honduras
Hondutel Movil
Digicel

Mobile applications

Smart applications
M-money

Fixed-line broadband market

Introduction and statistical overview
Broadband statistics

Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks

Major ISPs
Community Telecentres

Fixed network operators

Hondutel
Tele+ (Comunitel)
MultiData

Digital Economy

e-Government
e-Learning

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
International infrastructure

Interconnection with other Central American countries
Submarine cable networks
Satellite networks

Infrastructure developments

Wireless Local Loop (WLL)

Internet Exchange Point (IXP)

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Honduras – 2020 (e)
Table 2 – Evolution of GDP in Honduras – 2011 – 2020
Table 3 – Telecom sector revenue ($ million) – 2011 – 2018
Table 4 – Change in the number of mobile numbers ported – 2014 – 2018
Table 5 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Table 6 – Change in the number of mobile prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2014 - 2020
Table 7 – Change in the proportion of prepaid and postpaid mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2020
Table 8 – Change in mobile voice traffic by type (million minutes) – 2010 – 2020
Table 9 – Change in mobile messaging traffic (million messages) – 2014 – 2020
Table 10 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Table 11 – Growth in fixed-line and mobile data traffic (PB) – 2018 – 2020
Table 12 – Change in the population coverage by mobile technology – 2016 – 2019
Table 13 – Growth in the number of Tigo’s mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2020
Table 14 – Development of Tigo Honduras’s financial data ($ million) – 2014 – 2020
Table 15 – Increase in the average fixed-line and mobile data rate (Mb/s) – 2018 – 2020
Table 16 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2011 – 2020
Table 17 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Table 18 – DSL and cable broadband subscribers – 2014 – 2018
Table 19 – Development of fixed-line national traffic (billion minutes) – 2015 – 2020
Table 20 – Change in the number of Hondutel’s fixed subscribers by type – 2016 – 2020
Table 21 – Development of Hondutel’s revenue – 2011 – 2020
Table 22 – Development of Hondutel’s net profit – 2011 – 2020
Table 23 – Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2011 – 2026
Table 24 – International bandwidth – 2011 – 2019
Table 25 – International bandwidth per user – 2007 – 2017
Table 26 – Blended mobile ARPU – 2012- 2015
Table 27 – Historic - Evolution of GDP in Honduras – 2000 – 2010
Table 28 – Historic – Telecom sector revenue ($ million) – 2000 – 2010
Table 29 – Historic – Telecom sector revenue – 2011 – 2016
Table 30 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1997 – 2010
Table 31 – Historic - Mobile prepaid/postpaid ratio – 1997 – 2010
Table 32 – Historic - Tigo mobile subscribers – 2000 – 2010
Table 33 – Historic - Tigo Money users – 2014 – 2015
Table 34 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate – 1997 – 2010
Table 35 – Historic – Hondutel net profit – 2005 – 2010
Table 36 – Historic - Fixed lines in service by operator – 1996 – 2011
Table 37 – Historic - Fixed lines in service – 1996 – 2010
Table 38 – Historic – International bandwidth – 2000 – 2010

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Latin America – Overall Telecoms Maturity Index
Chart 2 – Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders Category
Chart 3 – Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers Category
Chart 4 – Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers Category
Chart 5 – South America –Telecoms Maturity Index by country
Chart 6 – Central America –Telecoms Maturity Index by country
Chart 7 – Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita
Chart 8 – South America mobile subscriber penetration versus mobile broadband penetration
Chart 9 – Latin America fixed broadband penetration versus mobile broadband penetration
Chart 10 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 11 – Change in the number of mobile prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2014 - 2020
Chart 12 – Change in the proportion of prepaid and postpaid mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2020
Chart 13 – Change in mobile voice traffic by type (million minutes) – 2010 – 2020
Chart 14 – Change in mobile messaging traffic (million messages) – 2014 – 2020
Chart 15 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 16 – Change in the population coverage by mobile technology – 2016 – 2019
Chart 17 – Growth in the number of Tigo’s mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2020
Chart 18 – Development of Tigo Honduras’s financial data ($ million) – 2014 – 2020
Chart 19 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2011 – 2020
Chart 20 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 21 – Development of fixed-line national traffic (billion minutes) – 2015 – 2020
Chart 22 – Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2011 – 2026

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 2 – South America - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country
Exhibit 3 – Central America - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country
Exhibit 4 – Spectrum band allocations for LTE – 2013
Exhibit 5 – Spectrum auction awards – October 2013
Exhibit 6 – Submarine cable network links to Honduras in 2021

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Honduras Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Honduran government providing free internet to 75,000 households

Key Developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Latin America Market Comparison

Country overview

Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Fixed network operators

Digital Economy

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