The application of tax of $0.65 per mobile phone line that had been proposed by the Executive to fund part of the 2015 budget has been temporarily suspended.
The Constitutional Court temporarily suspended the collection of the tax on telephone lines after the Chamber of Industry and the three phone companies operating in the country submitted an appeal against the tax.
In response to approval of a new tax of $0.65 per telephone line, operating companies have returned 6 million lines to the Telecommunications Superintendency.
Representatives from Claro, Tigo and Telefónica each returned 2 million inactive numbers with the aim of adjusting their internal policies to adapt to the new tax which will come into effect next year.
95% of the 21 million handsets registered as operational in July 2013 are prepaid.
The data was released by the Superintendency of Telecommunications (SIT). "Of every 10 active phones, nine are prepaid and only one uses a payment plan by the company providing the service," reported Prensalibre.com.
According to these statistics, Tigo reports 9.6 million prepaid lines, ie 49% of all subscribers.
During 2012, mobile telephony saw a total of almost 21 million users, an increase of 6.7% compared to 2011.
According to statistics from the Superintendency of Telecommunications (SIT) in the past 9 years, mobile telephony has grown by 556%.
In 2003, Guatemala had more than three million subscribers, however, the figures indicate that as of 2009 the market stagnated and growth per year reduced to a million customers.
From 3.1 million lines in 2004, mobile telephony in Guatemala has increased sevenfold, amounting to to 20.7 million lines at the end of 2011.
In the second half of 2011, more than two million new users were added to the market, making the number of users around the country at the end of December 2011 20.7 million, according to the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (SIT).
Growth rates are lower, and statistics show that there are 132 cell lines per 100 inhabitants, a fact that is leading phone companies to adopt new strategies for growth.
The growth rate of mobile telephony in Guatemala decreased from 2.5 million lines per year in 2005 to only about 460 thousand in 2010, a sign of market maturity. Today, Guatemala has 132 mobile phone lines per 100 inhabitants.
The company Telefonica and the Movistar brand have launched commercial HSPA+ hardware in the country.
Salvador Montes de Oca, director of Marketing and Advertising at Movistar Guatemala told the media that HSPA + technology offers download speeds of up to 21 data megabits per second (Mbps) and 5.7 Mbps for sending information.
For his part, Manuel Barrera executive of Claro "announced last November 24 the company's transition to the use of such technology.
The phone company will invest in the installation of 200 transmission antennas to expand its coverage in the country.
The new antennas will join the thousands that the company has already installed, said Telefonica Moviles’ deputy director of Technology Operations and Systems, Luis Eduardo Durán.
"The investment will be mainly in transmitting antennas and will therefore strengthen the 3G coverage that exists for all its users," said the executive to Siglo21.com.gt.
The increase in the number of mobile phone line users during the first half of 2011 was almost half a million.
As of 30 June, the total number of lines stood at 18,528,667, an increase of 5.7% compared to the same period in 2010, according to preliminary information from the Superintendency of Telecommunications (SIT).
The company Tigo has 43% of the cell phone market, followed by Claro, with 34% and Telefonica with 23.1%.
During 2010 the cell phone market registered only a 4% growth, compared to 15% in 2009.
According to the Telecommunications Superintendence, there are currently over 18 million subscribers, 1.22 cell phones per person.
Tigo controls 42.7% of the cell phone market, followed by Claro with 34.1% and Telefonica with 23.1%.
"Of the 18 million users, 17.1 million are using the prepaid-card system, while 966 thousand have a contract with an operator," reported Prensalibre.com.
Telephony revenue increased 10.5% between 2008 and 2009; the sector represents 6.5% of GDP and 8.3% of tax revenue.
According to reports published by Pyramid Research, the telephone market in Guatemala generated revenue of $ 2.1 billion in 2009, of which $ 1.37 billion (66%) were generated by mobile services.
The numbers also show the remarkable growth experienced by mobile operators in recent years: 4.5 million mobile lines in 2005 to 17.3 million in 2009, meaning there are now 126 phones per 100 inhabitants.
Despite the crisis, mobile phone lines continued growing in Guatemala, reaching 16 million after the first half of 2009.
Growth is expected to continue in the second semester, even surpassing the first half, as it is common for mobile phone lines to enjoy greater demand in the second halves of each year.
Claro and Tigo own the largest share of the market, with 37% each, followed by Telefónica with 25% according to data from the Telecommunications Superintendence.
The telecommunications market in Guatemala will grow at a compound rate of 5% over the next 5 years, reaching $2.800 million in 2014.
Revenues for this market were $1.9 billion in 2009, out of which 62% was generated by the mobile segment, according to a recent study by Pyramid Research. This segment would grow at a 13.7% annual rate over the next 5 years and "though messaging will remain the main source of revenue, connectivity will gain more than 10 percentage points of total revenue fueled by mobile Internet and mobile broadband", states a press release in Reuters.com.
Tigo controls 48% of the cellular market, with over 4.9 million subscribers.
The remainder of the market is distributed between Claro and Telefónica, according to data from the International Telecommunications Union.
"... the number of cell phones in Guatemala has doubled during the past 5 years. In 2003 there were 49 phones for each 100 inhabitants. This figure was 109 in 2008", reported Elperiodico.com.gt.