|
|
Venezuela Telecommunications Report Q4 2009Product Type: Market Research ReportPublished by: Business Monitor International Published: August 2009 Product Code: R302-7702 Description Venezuela’s mobile market creeps ever closer to 100% penetration with 27.6mn subscribers at the end of
Q109. Growth in the market has inevitably slowed as the market approaches maturity, but BMI
anticipates a respectable level of growth to continue in the market as state-owned incumbent, Compañía
Anónima de Teléfonos de Venezuela (CANTV), continues its focus on low-income subscribers. The
operator is largely responsible for all the growth in the fixed-line and broadband markets and produced
most of the growth in the mobile market in Q109. The company no longer produces a breakdown of its
subscriber figures, but it appears to be the driving force behind the Venezuelan telecoms market. Its new
services and packages have been encouraging greater numbers of Venezuelans into the telecoms market,
many for the first time.May saw the launch of the first Venezuelan-produced handset from the government’s joint venture with China’s ZTE. The ‘Bolivarian’ handset went on sale on Mother’s Day in Venezuela and reportedly sold out of handsets on its first day. The cost of the handset is considerably lower than any other sold by Movilnet, CANTV’s mobile arm, and is available exclusively to the state-owned operator. President Chávez has hailed the new handset and stated plans to expand into other Latin American markets. While the handset may not significantly spur growth in the market, it will certainly enable many subscribers to acquire a new handset. More advanced services and models are available from Digitel and Movistar, both of which have launched 3G services although they are focusing on mobile broadband in the short run. The broadband market continues to report strong growth, and the increases reported in the first quarter of 2008 show that there is unlikely to be a significant slowdown in the expansion of services. Alternative operators provide some competition to CANTV, but the incumbent’s prepaid services certainly seem to appeal to the market. Venezuela saw an improvement to its Telecoms Market score in BMI’s Business Environment Rankings in Q409, although it retained its position in the market. Greater ARPUs reported by Movistar indicate that the market has been quite resilient in the face of economic turmoil, but BMI believes that ARPU at Movilnet is likely to have declined somewhat as it focuses on lower income subscribers. Movistar has launched its 3G network, and Digitel also followed suit, although the latter stated it would delay further roll-out of services in light of ongoing turmoil in the financial markets and the economy. GDP is expected to decline in 2009 and then further in 2010, giving Venezuela one of the lowest Country Risk scores in the region. Table of Contents
|
|
||||||||
MindBranch has been the leading provider of industry and investment research from more than 550 independent research firms since 1992. With over 90,000 market research reports, MindBranch is your trusted source of competitive business intelligence. |