Colombia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Publication Date	May 2009
Publisher	BuddeComm
Product Type	Report
Pages	85
ISBN Number	not applicable
Product Code	BUD00388

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Summary

This annual report offers a wealth of information on the trends and developments in fixed-line and mobile telephony, Internet and broadband, converging media and new technologies in Colombia. Subjects include:

Key statistics and forecasts;
Market and industry overviews;
Government policies and regulatory issues;
Historical information;
Major players (fixed-line, mobile, broadband, and pay TV);
Telecom infrastructure (national and international, fixed and wireless);
Mobile voice and data markets;
Internet market and VoIP;
Broadband (DSL, cable, wireless);
Convergence, triple play, pay TV, IPTV, and digital terrestrial TV.

Researcher:- Lucia Bibolini

Current publication date:- May 2009 (8th Edition)

Next publication date:- May 2010

BuddeComm's annual publication, Colombia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts, profiles the third most populous country in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico.

Colombia has around 30 local telephone providers, partly private, and partly owned by the municipalities where they operate. It also has an ever-growing number of private long-distance and broadband operators, and four mobile phone companies. The incumbent, Colombia Telecom, has been taken over by Telefnica and renamed Telefnica Telecom. The second-largest fixed-line company, state-owned ETB, has been seeking a strategic partner to help finance its investment needs.

Local telephony operators need a concession only if they use radio spectrum, while long-distance operators can offer services by obtaining a Convergence Licence and a multicarrier access code. In fact, a single Convergence Licence allows providers to offer long-distance telephony, Internet access, broadband, and other value-added services. Competition will receive a further boost from number portability, to be implemented by 2012.

This report presents a concise overview of sector liberalisation and privatisation in Colombia; government initiatives and regulations in the telecom industry; company profiles for the major operators in the various telecom sectors; the development of mobile and broadband technologies; the emergence of convergence and IP solutions; essential country and operator statistics in all telecom sectors; and scenario forecasts for the fixed-line, mobile, and broadband markets.

Key highlights:

Although lower than average for South America, Colombia's fixed-line teledensity measures up favourably with the country's GDP per capita. The basic telephony market, however, is stagnant, with customers opting for alternative technologies and mobility in preference to traditional phones.
Colombia's mobile penetration is considerably higher than would be expected given the country's general economic indicators, largely thanks to the mobile rates, which have been among the lowest in Latin America.
Colombia's broadband penetration is only slightly below average for Latin America and has been growing at an impressive rate, but the market may flatten as a result of the global financial crisis. WiMAX, originally welcomed enthusiastically in Colombia, is suffering from the economic downturn.
Pay TV companies have experienced a wave of consolidation. Triple play solutions are popular, offered by the three telecom incumbents as well as by Telmex. Several operators have launched or are planning to launch IPTV, and the country has selected the European DVB standard for Digital Terrestrial TV.

Key telecom statistics for Colombia - September 2008
Service | Subscribers (million) | Annual growth | Penetration |
Fixed-line telephony | 7.91 | -1% | 16.5% |
Mobile telephony | 39.05 | +23% | 81.2% |
Broadband | 1.78 | +65% | 3.7% |
Pay TV | 2.75 | +45% | 5.7% |

| (Source: BuddeComm)

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.

The following notes provide some background to our scenario forecasting methodology:

This report includes what we term scenario forecasts. By describing long-range scenarios we identify a band within which we expect market growth to occur. The associated text describes what we see as the most likely growth trend within this band.
The projections shown in the tables in this report are based on our own historical information, as well as on telecommunication sector statistics from official and non-official, national and international sources. We assume a possible deviation of 15-20% around this data.
All statistics for GDP, revenue, etc are shown in US$, in order to maintain consistency within and between markets. At the same time we acknowledge that this can introduce some irregularities.

For those needing high-level strategic information and objective analysis on this region, this 70+ page report is essential reading and gives further information on:

Regulatory developments and spectrum auctions;
Fixed-line developments, including the adoption of alternative technologies such as VoIP;
Mobile telephony growth and the uptake of mobile data services;
Broadband growth and incursions into wireless technologies such as WiMAX;
Convergence, triple play, IPTV, and other emerging technologies;
Scenario forecasts for the fixed-line, mobile, and broadband markets.

Content

1. Key Statistics
- 1.1 Country overview
- 1.2 General outlook
2. Telecommunications Market
- 2.1 Overview of Colombia's telecom market
- 2.2 Telecom market trends
3. Regulatory Environment
- 3.1 Background
- 3.2 Regulatory authorities
  - 3.2.1 Ministry of Communications
  - 3.2.2 CRT
  - 3.2.3 CNTV
- 3.3 Licensing
- 3.4 Privatisation
- 3.5 Telecom sector liberalisation in Colombia
- 3.6 Multicarrier system and carrier preselection
- 3.7 Convergence Decree
- 3.8 Foreign investment
- 3.9 Number portability (NP)
- 3.10 Per-minute billing
- 3.11 Interconnect
- 3.12 Rural telephony
- 3.13 Compartel
- 3.14 Consumer rights
- 3.15 Free-Trade Agreement (FTA)
4. Fixed Network Operators in Colombia
- 4.1 Overview of operators
  - 4.1.1 Local operators
  - 4.1.2 Long-distance operators
- 4.2 Telefnica Telecom (previously Colombia Telecom)
  - 4.2.1 Telebucaramanga
- 4.3 ETB
- 4.4 UNE-EPM Telecomunicaciones
  - 4.4.1 Edatel
  - 4.4.2 Emtelsa
  - 4.4.3 EPM Bogot
  - 4.4.4 Telefnica de Pereira
- 4.5 Telmex Colombia
- 4.6 Emcali
5. Telecommunications Infrastructure
- 5.1 National telecom network
  - 5.1.1 Fixed-line statistics
- 5.2 International infrastructure
  - 5.2.1 Submarine cable networks
  - 5.2.2 Satellite networks
- 5.3 Infrastructure developments
  - 5.3.1 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
  - 5.3.2 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
6. Internet Market
- 6.1 Overview
  - 6.1.1 Internet statistics
- 6.2 Compartel
- 6.3 One Laptop per Child project
7. Broadband Market
- 7.1 Overview
  - 7.1.1 Broadband statistics
- 7.2 Major ISPs and broadband players
- 7.3 Cable modems
- 7.4 Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
- 7.5 Wireless broadband
  - 7.5.1 WiFi
  - 7.5.2 WiMAX
8. Convergence
- 8.1 Overview of media convergence
- 8.2 Triple play models
  - 8.2.1 Regulatory issues
- 8.3 Pay TV
  - 8.3.1 Cable TV
  - 8.3.2 Satellite TV
- 8.4 Broadband TV (IPTV)
- 8.5 Digital terrestrial TV
9. Mobile Communications
- 9.1 Overview of Colombia's mobile market
  - 9.1.1 Mobile statistics
- 9.2 Regulatory issues
  - 9.2.1 Spectrum auctions
- 9.3 Mobile technologies
  - 9.3.1 Digital
  - 9.3.2 Third generation (3G) mobile
- 9.4 Major mobile operators
  - 9.4.1 Comcel (Amrica Mvil)
  - 9.4.2 Movistar (Telefnica)
  - 9.4.3 Tigo (Colombia Mvil Millicom)
  - 9.4.4 Avantel
- 9.5 Mobile voice services
  - 9.5.1 Prepaid services
  - 9.5.2 Satellite mobile
- 9.6 Mobile data services
  - 9.6.1 Short Message Service (SMS)
10. Forecasts
- 10.1 Forecasts fixed-line market to 2018
  - 10.1.1 Scenario 1 higher fixed line growth
  - 10.1.2 Scenario 2 lower fixed line growth
- 10.2 Forecasts broadband market to 2018
  - 10.2.1 Scenario 1 higher broadband growth
  - 10.2.2 Scenario 2 lower broadband growth
- 10.3 Forecasts mobile market to 2018
  - 10.3.1 Scenario 1 higher mobile market growth
  - 10.3.2 Scenario 2 lower mobile market growth
11. Glossary of Abbreviations
- Table 1 Country statistics Colombia 2008
- Table 2 Telephone network statistics September 2008
- Table 3 Internet user statistics 2008
- Table 4 Broadband statistics September 2008
- Table 5 Mobile statistics September 2008
- Table 6 Regulatory authorities
- Table 7 Telecommunications revenue and annual change 2000 - 2007
- Table 8 Telecom revenue by segment 2007
- Table 9 Major operators' market share of fixed lines in service 2000 - 2008
- Table 10 DLD traffic market share by operator 1999 - 2007
- Table 11 ILD outgoing traffic market share by operator 1999 - 2007
- Table 12 Telefnica Telecom lines in service and annual change 2000 - 2008
- Table 13 ETB lines in service and annual change 2000 - 2008
- Table 14 UNE-EPM lines in service and annual change 2000 - 2008
- Table 15 Fixed lines in service, annual change and teledensity 1996 - 2008
- Table 16 Teledensity by department 2007 - 2008
- Table 17 Internet users, annual change and user penetration - 1997 - 2008
- Table 18 Dial-up subscribers and annual change - 2003 - 2008
- Table 19 Dial-up and broadband market share - 2003 - 2008
- Table 20 Broadband subscribers, annual change and penetration rates - 2002 - 2008
- Table 21 Broadband market share by technology - 2003 - 2008
- Table 22 Broadband market share by major operator - September 2008
- Table 23 Cable modem subscribers, annual change and penetration rates - 2003 - 2008
- Table 24 ADSL subscribers, annual change and penetration rates - 2003 - 2008
- Table 25 WiMAX subscribers, annual change and penetration rates - 2006 - 2008
- Table 26 Cable TV subscribers, annual change and penetration rates 2000 - 2008
- Table 27 Major cable TV operators' market share 2004 - 2008
- Table 28 Satellite TV subscribers, annual change and penetration rates 2000 - 2008
- Table 29 Satellite TV operators' market share 2004 - 2008
- Table 30 Mobile operators, subscribers and annual change - September 2008
- Table 31 Mobile subscribers, annual change and penetration rate 1997 - 2008
- Table 32 Mobile market share by operator 2002 - 2008
- Table 33 Evolution of ARPU in Colombia mobile operators 2005 - 2007
- Table 34 Comcel subscribers and annual change 2000 - 2008
- Table 35 Movistar subscribers and annual change 2001 - 2008
- Table 36 Tigo subscribers and annual change 2003 - 2008
- Table 37 Mobile prepaid/postpaid ratio - 2005 - 2008
- Table 38 Forecast fixed-line subscribers & teledensity higher growth scenario 2008; 2013; 2018
- Table 39 Forecast fixed line subscribers & teledensity lower growth scenario 2008; 2013; 2018
- Table 40 Forecast broadband subscribers & penetration higher growth scenario 2008; 2013; 2018
- Table 41 Forecast broadband subscribers & penetration lower growth scenario 2008; 2013; 2018
- Table 42 Forecast mobile subscribers & penetration higher growth scenario 2008; 2013; 2018
- Table 43 Forecast mobile subscribers & penetration lower growth scenario 2008; 2013; 2018
- Exhibit 1 Long distance access codes incumbents and new carriers June 2008
- Exhibit 2 Telefnica Telecom at a glance
- Exhibit 3 Colombia Telecom company history
- Exhibit 4 Colombia Telecom privatisation
- Exhibit 5 Barranquilla Telecomunicaciones (liquidated)
- Exhibit 6 ETB at a glance
- Exhibit 7 UNE-EPM Telecomunicaciones at a glance
- Exhibit 8 UNE-EPM telecom subsidiaries
- Exhibit 9 Orbitel history
- Exhibit 10 Telmex Colombia at a glance
- Exhibit 11 Telmex Colombia acquisition of AT&T
- Exhibit 12 Major submarine cable networks landing in Colombia
- Exhibit 13 Major ISPs, broadband players and services offered
- Exhibit 14 Coldecn (liquidated)
- Exhibit 15 Departmental WiMAX licences issued in December 2006
- Exhibit 16 Colombian regions for mobile licensing
- Exhibit 17 Comcel, Occel, and Celcaribe company history
- Exhibit 18 TEM Colombia company history
- Exhibit 19 Colombia Mvil company history