Boston, MA -- (SBWire) -- 07/12/2013 --Colombia's telecommunications market continues to post strong growth and its prospects for 2013 are good - particularly in the mobile and the mobile internet sector. After some delays, the 4G spectrum auction is now scheduled to be completed by June 2013, and the successful operators will be obliged to connect all Colombian towns to 4G services within a five-year timeframe. The government aims to raise US$250mn from the auction and has stated it will use the funds raised to support the Vive Digital programme, which is supporting the roll-out of fibre-optic connections in the country. Other mobile developments include the arrival of MVNO Virgin Mobile, indicating that investors believe in the mobile market's growth prospects. The government's decision to reserve spectrum in the 4G auction for new entrants is positive, and should also help encourage competition.
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Key Data
- We lowered our mobile forecasts slightly this quarter, following the publication of updated subscriber numbers and MinTIC data. We forecast 59.0mn connections by
- Mobile internet continues to outpace growth in wireline broadband connections. But data from MinTIC show that by Q412, saw subscriber numbers fall slightly compared to Q312, with subscriber numbers falling to 3.21mn. Year-on-year growth totalled 15.1%, according to MinTIC's figures.
- Fixed-line subscribers continued their downward trend, although we raised our forecast slightly this quarter following the publication of full-year subscriber numbers for 2012. According to MinTIC, there were 6.23mn fixed-line subscribers in Colombia at the end of 2012.
Key Trends And Developments
Conditions for participation in the 4G auction - which will be held in June 2013 - were finalised by MinTIC in February 2013 and April 2013. Blocks of spectrum have been reserved for new market entrants, while Claro will be able to participate in the auction for 1.9GHz (for 3G) and 2.5GHz (for 4G) bands, but will not be able to bid for the AWS band of spectrum, because of its dominant market position.
Une EPM and Millicom International Cellular signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the potential merger of their operations in February 2013.
In April 2013, Virgin Mobile launched its MVNO operations in Colombia. Virgin Mobile's unique selling point is its billing per second, rather than per minute.
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"Colombia Telecommunications Report Q3 2013" Published
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