Posts Tagged ‘Central America’
Mobile Penetration in Nicaragua Will Exceed 80% by 2015
Despite the country’s political instability and widespread poverty, Nicaragua’s mobile penetration will top 80% by 2015 from 53.9 percent in 2010, fueled by expansion of prepaid subscriptions and urban mobile broadband connections, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.
Nicaragua is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.5 percent over the next five years to advance from $478 million for 2010 to $655 million in 2015, well ahead of the 3.7 percent average expected for Latin America, notes Jose Magana, Senior Analyst at Pyramid Research. “In Central America, the growth rate in Nicaragua will be the fastest of all countries due to its still-early stage of penetration in mobile services and our expectation for growth even in the fixed sector,” he says.
Mobile penetration in Nicaragua will close at 53.9 percent in 2010, the lowest in Central America. “The low competitiveness of the market, with just two mobile operators, paired with the lowest income in the region curbs the adoption of services,” Magana explains. “There is still a large percentage of the population underserved; by the same token, experiences in Africa with mobile payments and health initiatives prove that there are opportunities for operators if services targeting the bottom of the pyramid succeed,” he adds.
“We forecast that mobile penetration will reach 82 percent by 2015, driven by expansion of prepaid subscriptions and urban mobile broadband connections,” says Magana. Prepaid subscriptions account for 94 percent of total mobile connections, in line with Nicaragua’s Central American neighbors.
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See the Nicaraguan mobile operators in EMAT.
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Digicel Subscriber Base Up 15% Over Past Year
Digicel Group has reported that its subscriber base rose by 15% over the year to 31st March 2010, ended with 10.8 million customers across 32 countries. Digicel closed out the year with revenues of USD $2.2 billion. This represents a 12% gain year on year and a compound annual growth rate of 24% from 2007 to 2010 aross all Digicel markets (Caribbean, Pacific, Central America).
In terms of Digicel Group (which comprises 24 markets across the Caribbean and the Caribbean), revenues were US$1.75 billion — up 1% year on year and 5% in constant currency terms — with EBITDA margin increasing to 43%, up from 39% the previous year.
In those 24 markets, Digicel achieved a 31% growth in data revenues year on year while the postpaid subscriber base grew by 18% year on year.
Digicel Group CEO, Colm Delves, comments; “It’s been another great year for Digicel. Our promise and commitment to our customers to deliver best value, best service and best network is continuing to translate into sustained growth and strong performance resulting in us once again over delivering against all of our internal targets.”
In the coming year, Digicel has the impending launch of consumer WiMAX services across Jamaica and 3G+ launches in the French West Indies and Bermuda.
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See Colm Delves and the Digicel Group record in EMAT.
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Central America’s Broadband Growth to Exceed Latin American Average, Pyramid Find
Underpenetrated by broadband services, Central America will produce growth rates exceeding the Latin American average due to new competitors and sales tools, leading to another 1.65 million broadband connections being added during 2009-2014, according to a new report from Pyramid Research.
Although the number of broadband connections in Central America grew at a 58 percent CAGR in 2004-2008, broadband penetration still lags the Latin American average at 2.46 percent of the population in 2009, notes Jose Magana, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. However, market conditions are improving rapidly. “Pyramid believes that latent demand for broadband in Central America will produce strong, sustained growth ahead of the Latin American average due to new competitors and sales tools, such as bundling and financing,” says Magana. “The combination of these developments will help make up for poor access and low affordability, leading to another 1.65 million broadband connections being added during 2009-2014.”
Fixed broadband operators face pressure from various competitors, and the ensuing fight over subscribers will boost penetration of broadband services across the region. “Pyramid predicts that mobile broadband connections in Central America – including prepaid connections – will exceed fixed broadband by 2014, so the threat from mobile operators is real and powerful,” Magana explains. “Also, the cost of a computer is a significant barrier to broadband adoption for fixed operators; to compete, operators will have to reduce equipment costs and offer convergent service.”
