Recent Study: Colombia Telecommunications Report Q1 2013

New Fixed Networks market report from Business Monitor International: "Colombia Telecommunications Report Q1 2013"

by Bill Thompson

(WireNews+Co) - Boston, MA - 04 January 2013

BMI View: Colombia's mobile market is a dynamic one, with new technologies - such as LTE trials in the 700MHz bandwidth and a 4G spectrum auction - poised to boost market growth further and drive the expansion of the mobile broadband sector. Concerns over competition remain, however, with some members of the government calling for Claro to be excluded from the forthcoming 4G spectrum auction (for fears that it already has a dominant position in the marketplace), and requesting that spectrum be reserved for new entrants to boost competition. BMI believes that, while with over 60% of the mobile subscriber market Claro is a dominant figure in the market, excluding the operator will actually impede market expansion. In broadband, new contracts announced will see Colombia's fibre-optic network extended, and the quarter also saw ETB announcing important investments in the TV sectors, following its acquisition of Ingelcom. ETB plans to launch an IPTV and a pay-TV service in 2013, which should help boost competition in the sector.

View Full Report Details and Table of Contents (http://www.fastmr.com/prod/523879_colombia_telecommunications_report_q1_2013.aspx) (http://www.fastmr.com/prod/523879_colombia_telecommunications_report_q1_2013.aspx)

Key Data

?? Mobile forecasts were upgraded slightly as operators posted another quarter of strong net additions, particularly from Movistar and Claro. We forecast 59.7mn connections by 2017. ?? Mobile internet continues to outpace growth in wireline broadband connections. Q212 saw subscriber numbers pass the 3mn mark, growing by 22.2% year-on-year (y-o-y). ?? Pay TV subscribers posted strong growth, climbing by 12.3% y-o-y to total 4.1mn subscribers in Q212. ETB's entry in this market, planned for 2013, will boost growth further.

Key Trends And Developments

In October 2012, Colombia will conduct LTE trials in the 700MHz band with the Asia Pacific Telecommunity band plan, according to the National Spectrum Agency (ANE). Huawei will conduct trials in Q412. ZTE and Ericsson will conduct trials in Q113.

The government decided to postpone the auction for 4G spectrum - it was originally scheduled for September 2012 but has now been pushed towards the end of the year or early 2013 - and both Colombian senators and mobile operators have called for Claro to be kept out of the auction, over fears it will dominate the market. BMI believes that restricting access of one of the country's telecoms investors would be a bad precedent to set for the development of the market.

Owners of prepaid mobile phones must register their details with their operator between mid-October 2012 and the end of March 2013. MinTIC was forced to extend this deadline - which was originally set for October 1, 2012, because operators feared subscribers had not been given enough time to register their phones. Once the registration period is over, unregistered phones will be blocked. The move aims to reduce the incidence of stolen handsets.

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