During the first three months of 2019, Central American countries imported cell phones for $329 million, 27% more than what was reported in the same period of 2018.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAPHIC caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
In Guatemala, at the end of the first half of the year, customers with postpaid plans from telephony operators increased 12% compared to those reported at the end of 2017.
According to statistics from the Superintendence of Telecommunications (SIT), the increase in the number of postpaid plans registered during the first six months of the year is mainly because of the increase in customers reported by the operator Claro, since between December 2017 and June 2018 increased from 329 thousand to 490 thousand.
Unlike Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama, Guatemalan authorities did not sign the agreement that seeks to eliminate additional fees that are charged for roaming services.
The Superintendency of Telecommunications took part in the Assembly of the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (Citel) which was held in Buenos Aires, but the Guatemalan institution has not yet given the reasons why it did not sign the agreement in favor of eliminating charges for roaming services.
There is still a predominance of prepaid systems, which account for 95.6% of the 21,474,000 cell lines operating in the country.
The mobile phone market in Guatemala still has a preference for prepaid systems, or top up payment cards, with the number of the number of lines that operate under this mode up to July 2014 totaling 20,548,000 .
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.
In June 2012 the number of active lines was recorded at 19.8 million, 4.6% less than the 20.7 million recorded at end of 2011.
Elperiodico.com.gt reports that "After nearly two decades of steady expansion, in the first half of this year the cellular figures reported a negative, according to a report prepared by the Superintendency of Telecommunications (SIT)."
Of the total numbers assigned, 26 million, 22.7 million are mobiles and only 3.3 million landlines.
At the end of the first half of 2011 there were 20.2 million registered numbers. Up until the end of August 2012, the Superintendency of Telecommunications (SIT) had delivered 26.03 million, 5.83 million in just over a year.
While the growth rate is unstable, so far this year 3.3 million cell phone numbers have been allocated versus 170,000 fixed telephone lines, said the administrator of the National Numbering Plan at the Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sit), Carlos Pineda.
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).
The Spanish company Movilway is offering recharging services and transactions via mobile phones.
The company will offer in the country the ability to buy credit for mobile phones from anywhere in the world, and projects that this year it will reach 2,500 points of sale.
"Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America and in the field of telecommunications has a high potential for growth because the level of mobile penetration is about 90% and 80% of people use prepayment plans", the company said in a statement.
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%.