Panama Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: December 2024

Report Pages: 153

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Panama increases connectivity via the Aurora and Caribbean Express cables

Panama has seen a steady increase in revenue from the telecom sector in recent years. Mobile services and broadband remain the key growth sectors, with mobile connections accounting for 90% of all connections, and over half of telecom sector revenue.

The mobile sector has flourished since the arrival of Digicel Panamá in 2008 and of América Móvil in 2009, which ended the duopoly long enjoyed by Cable & Wireless Panamá and Telefónica’s Movistar. Millicom International Cellular (trading as Tigo) acquired Telefónica’s telecom assets in Panama in 2019. The mobile market has effective competition among these players.

Internet penetration has grown in recent years as consumers responded to government fixed-line projects, improved mobile broadband connectivity and a plethora of mobile applications.

BuddeComm notes that the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally. Since 2020 the telecoms sector, to various degrees, has experienced a downturn in mobile device production. It was also difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G has been postponed or slowed down in some countries.

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 will continue to be a steady though reduced increased in subscriber growth.

Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the pandemic, 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.

This report update includes the regulator's market data to September 2021, operator data to September 2021, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of Covid-19 on the telecoms sector, and other recent market developments.

Key developments

Liberty Latin America reaches agreement with América Móvil to acquire Claro Panamá for $200 million.
Movistar and Cable Onda are rebranded as Tigo.
Panama’s Digital Transformation and Inclusion Strategy Aid Program secures a $350 million loan.
Regulator extends temporary spectrum allocations in the AWS band.
Aurora cable system expected to be ready for service at the end of 2022.
Caribbean Express submarine cable system is launched.

Companies mentioned in this report

América Móvil, Cable and Wireless Panama, Claro, Cable Onda, FP Telecommunications, Google, Optynex Telecom, Digicel, Ericsson, Huawei, Liberty Latin America (LLA), Millicom International Cellular (MIC), Movistar, Ocean Networks, Tigo Panama.

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
Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Economic considerations and responses
Subscribers
Infrastructure

Telecommunications market

Historical overview
Market analysis

Regulatory environment

Regulatory authorities

ASEP
ACODECO

Fixed-line developments

Privatisation of INTEL
Telecom sector liberalisation
Interconnect
Number Portability (NP)

Mobile network developments

Spectrum auction – 2008
Licence concession – 2013
700MHz spectrum
AWS spectrum
1.5GHz
Infrastructure sharing
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

Mobile market

Mobile statistics

Mobile data
Mobile broadband

Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G (LTE)
3G
GSM
Towers

Major mobile operators

+Móvil (C&WP)
Movistar (Telefónica Moviles Panama)
Digicel Panamá
Claro Panamá (América Móvil)
Tigo Panama

Fixed-line broadband market

Market analysis

Broadband statistics
Red Nacional de Internet (RNI)

Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
G.fast
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
WiMAX
Satellite broadband

Digital economy

e-Government
e-Health
e-Payments
Smart Cities

Fixed network operators

Introduction
Cable & Wireless Panamá
Tigo (Cable Onda/Telecarrier)

Advanced Communication Network (ACN)

ClaroCOM (Galaxy Communications Corp)
Optynex Telecom
Movistar
Ufinet

Telecommunications infrastructure

National telecom network

Fixed-line statistics

International infrastructure

Interconnection with other Central American countries
Submarine cable networks
Satellite networks

Infrastructure developments

Wireless Local Loop (WLL)

Wholesale

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Panama – 2021 (e)
Table 2 – Development of telecom market revenue and investment ($ million) – 2011 – 2021
Table 3 – Development of telecom market revenue by sector ($ million) – 2011 – 2021
Table 4 – Development of telecom market share by sector – 2013 – 2021
Table 5 – Change in the number of fixed number portings – 2012 – 2021
Table 6 – Change in the number of mobile number portings – 2011 – 2021
Table 7 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Table 8 – Change in the number of prepaid and contract subscribers (million) – 2011 – 2021
Table 9 – Change in the proportion of prepaid and contract subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Table 10 – Change in mobile outgoing traffic by type (million minutes) – 2011 – 2021
Table 11 – Change in average fixed and mobile voice traffic per subscriber (minutes) – 2015 – 2021
Table 12 – Decline in SMS traffic – 2011 – 2020
Table 13 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers – 2011 – 2026
Table 14 – Growth in the number of LTE mobile subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Table 15 – Change in the number of C&W Panama’s mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Table 16 – Change in the number of C&WP’s prepaid and contract mobile subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Table 17 – Tigo Panama mobile subscribers – 2019 – 2021
Table 18 – Tigo Panama financial data ($ million) – 2018 – 2021
Table 19 – Growth in the number of internet users and penetration – 2011 – 2021
Table 20 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Table 21 – Change in fixed broadband market share by technology – 2011 – 2021
Table 22 – Growth in the number of cable broadband subscribers – 2010 – 2021
Table 23 – Change in the number of DSL subscribers – 2010 – 2021
Table 24 – Growth in the number of FttP subscribers – 2011 – 2019
Table 25 – Change in the number of Wi-Fi and WiMAX broadband subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Table 26 – Change in the number of C&W Panama’s mobile, broadband and fixed-line subscribers (thousand) – 2009 – 2021
Table 27 – Development of C&W Panama’s mobile, broadband and fixed-line revenue (old style) – 2009 – 2021
Table 28 – Development of C&W Panama’s mobile, broadband and fixed-line revenue (new style) (B million) – 2017 – 2020
Table 29 – Growth in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2011 – 2026
Table 30 – Decline in fixed-line call traffic by type (million minutes) – 2011 – 2021
Table 31 – Change in average fixed voice traffic by type, per subscriber – 2015 – 2021
Table 32 – Decline in the number of public telephones – 2011 – 2021
Table 33 – Growth in international bandwidth – 2011 – 2017
Table 34 – Historic - Telecom market revenue ($ million) – 2000 – 2010
Table 35 – Historic - Telecom market revenue by sector ($ million) – 2007 – 2010
Table 36 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1998 – 2010
Table 37 – Historic - Proportion of prepaid and contract subscribers – 1998 – 2010
Table 38 – Historic - Mobile prepaid/postpaid subscribers (thousand) – 2007 – 2010
Table 39 – Historic - Mobile outgoing traffic by type (million minutes) – 2007 – 2010
Table 40 – Historic - C&W Panama – mobi – 2005
Table 41 – Historic - Internet users and user penetration rate – 1997 – 2010
Table 42 – Historic - Broadband subscribers and penetration rates – 1998 – 2010
Table 43 – Historic - Broadband market share by technology – 2000 – 2010
Table 44 – Historic - Broadband subscribers, DSL and cable – 2001 – 2010
Table 45 – Historic - Fixed-line call traffic by type (million minutes) – 2007 – 2010
Table 46 – Historic - C&W Panama mobile, broadband and fixed lines ARPU (US$ / month) – 2007 – 2015
Table 47 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1997 – 2010
Table 48 – Historic - Public telephones – 1998 – 2010
Table 49 – Historic - Decline in SMS traffic – 2007 – 2010
Table 50 – Historic - Growth in the number of C&WP’s broadband subscribers – 2005 – 2010
Table 51 – Historic - Growth in the number of FttP subscribers – 2008 – 2010
Table 52 – Historic - Change in the number of Wi-Fi and WiMAX broadband subscribers – 2008 – 2010
Table 53 – Historic - Growth in international bandwidth – 2008 – 2010

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 – Central America – mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Central America – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – Development of telecom market revenue and investment – 2011 – 2021
Chart 9 – Development of telecom market revenue by sector – 2011 – 2021
Chart 10 – Development of telecom market share by sector – 2013 – 2021
Chart 11 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 12 – Change in the number of prepaid and contract subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Chart 13 – Change in the proportion of prepaid and contract subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Chart 14 – Change in mobile outgoing traffic by type – 2011 – 2021
Chart 15 – Change in average fixed and mobile voice traffic per subscriber – 2015 – 2021
Chart 16 – Decline in SMS traffic – 2011 – 2020
Chart 17 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers – 2011 – 2026
Chart 18 – Change in the number of C&W Panama’s mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Chart 19 – Change in the number of C&WP’s prepaid and contract mobile subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Chart 20 – Tigo Panama financial data ($ million) – 2018 – 2021
Chart 21 – Growth in the number of internet users and penetration – 2011 – 2021
Chart 22 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 23 – Change in fixed broadband market share by technology – 2011 – 2021
Chart 24 – Growth in the number of cable broadband subscribers – 2010 – 2021
Chart 25 – Change in the number of DSL subscribers – 2010 – 2021
Chart 26 – Change in the number of Wi-Fi and WiMAX broadband subscribers – 2011 – 2021
Chart 27 – Change in the number of C&W Panama’s mobile, broadband and fixed-line subscribers – 2009 – 2021
Chart 28 – Development of C&W Panama’s mobile, broadband and fixed-line revenue (new style) (B million) – 2017 – 2020
Chart 29 – Growth in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2011 – 2026
Chart 30 – Decline in fixed-line call traffic by type – 2011 – 2021
Chart 31 – Change in average fixed voice traffic by type, per subscriber (minutes) – 2015 – 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 Panama in 2021

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Panama Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Panama increases connectivity via the Aurora and Caribbean Express cables

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

Digital economy

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