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. The chief of the Tax Collection Authority, Omar Franco, assured Elperiodico.com.gt that "... Companies will have to make the necessary adjustments in order to estimate how much income will be as a result of the new tax. We did not know that this tax would end up being approved in the 2015 Budget. Congress considered and approved a levy based on the 23 million lines assigned, now that this figure has been reduced it will have to be re-estimated. "

"... The data that the Telecommunications Authority has on its website mentions that there are now 21.4 million mobile lines and 1.8 million fixed lines, bringing the total to 23.2 million lines in the country. If we subtract these 6 million devolutions given over today, the count drops to 17.2 million. "

Source: elperiodico.com.gt

More on this topic

Guatemalan Telephone Market Figures

June 2018

Between 2016 and 2017, the country registered a 9% increase in the number of lines in operation, rising from 18.2 million to 19.9 million.

According to figures from the Superintendency of Telecommunications (SIT), the number of prepaid mobile phone lines also registered an increase of 9%, rising from 17.2 million in 2016 to 18.8 million at the end of 2017. 

Guatemala: Fixed Lines Growing Faster Than Cell Phone Lines

January 2017

Between December 2015 and June 2016 the number of fixed telephone lines grew by 40%, while the number of mobile lines grew by only 3% in the same period.

Figures from the Superintendency of Telecommunications in Guatemala show that the number of fixed telephones lines went from 1,710,000 in December 2015 to 2,400,000 in June last year, while the total number of mobile lines increased from 18.1 million to 18.6 million.

Guatemala: Telephony Tax Under Question

February 2015

In Congress doubts are being voiced over the effectiveness of the application of a tax of $0.65 per phone line and $13 for call centers.

Among the nine challenges presented by deputies to the proposal to place a tax on phones, the lack of definition of the use of funds and details about who should pay the tax stand out the most, in particular whether it should be the user or the business who pays.

Guatemala: Tax on Telephony Suspended

January 2015

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.