When the Central American economies begin to relax the restrictions that have been adopted to prevent the spread of covid-19, sales of pay television service are forecast to fall by at least 2%.
Using a demand/income sensitivity model developed by CentralAmericaData's Commercial Intelligence Area, it is possible to project the variations that household demand for different goods and services will undergo as the most critical phases of the spread of covid-19 are overcome and the measures restricting mobility in the region's countries are lifted.
On November 14, the Superintendence of Telecommunications of Guatemala will auction a short number, which is used by commercial entities to provide advertising services, information, assistance and services.
So far, 56 four-digit telephone numbers have been auctioned in the country and the next one to be made available to companies will be 1710, which may be used as a routing mask to an eight-digit number.
In Guatemala, the telephone company Tuenti reported that it will now be part of América Móvil, owner of the Claro brand, following the sale of Telefonica's shares in early 2019.
After the number of users in operation in Guatemala grew 9% between 2016 and 2017, during the period between 2017 and 2018, the increase was only 2%.
According to the statistical bulletin of the Second Semester - 2018, prepared by the Telephony Regulation Management of the Superintendence of Telecommunications (SIT), between 2017 and 2018 the number of users in the country increased by 481,038, going from 19.9 million to 20.4 million.
The company reported that it signed an agreement with Millicom S.A. for the sale of all shares of Telefonica Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama, closing the transaction at $1.65 billion.
After the company reported in late January 2019 that for $648 million it had agreed to sell to America Móvil all the shares of Telefonica Guatemala and 99.3% of Telefonica El Salvador, it now announced that it had completed the sale process of the entire operation in Central America.
In the last eleven years in Guatemala, companies providing telecommunications services have invested just over $1.26 billion in the sector.
Figures from the Bank of Guatemala specify that Telecommunications is the fourth most important economic activity, according to the flows of Foreign Direct Investment that have reached the country, since between 2007 and 2018 an average of $105 million per year has been invested.
The company reported that it sold all the shares of Telefónica Guatemala and 99.3% of Telefónica El Salvador to América Móvil for $648 million.
The Spanish company stated that the closing of the sale of Telefónica Guatemala took place on January 24, however, the sale of Telefónica El Salvador is subject to the relevant regulatory conditions.
Regarding the announcement of the purchase of Telefónica El Salvador, the Superintendence of Competition (SC) of that country informed that until January 25, 2019, it had not received any request for authorization from América Móvil for the purchase of Telefónica de El Salvador.
The Spanish company Telefónica S.A. informed that it is in a negotiation process to sell its assets in the region.
The European company, with subsidiaries in El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama, explained that the sale of its assets in the region "could result in a transaction, both for the total and for some of those assets."
Because of the increase in mobile phone access, the monthly demand for mobile data per user in Guatemala is expected to grow from 0.4 GB to 2.45 GB between 2018 and 2023.
According to GlobalData forecasts, it is estimated that in the next five years the country will report an increase in the number of LTE (high-speed Internet) lines, rising from 1.7 million in 2018 to 5.6 million in 2023.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The bill being discussed in Congress notes that implementation, operation and maintenance costs will be borne by the operators.
Bill 5029, which has already been approved by the commission and will be discussed by the plenary in the coming days, states that users can switch from their operator up to 5 times per year, and this will only be done on active lines.
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.