After recording a slowdown in the revenue of companies in the sector in 2018, it is expected that this year in Costa Rica will begin a cycle of better sales and increased investment because of an increase in consumption of services.
During the last year, the revenues of the 152 operators and providers of telecommunications services in the country totaled about $1.422 million, an amount that is similar to that of 2017, since it is only 0.3% higher.
After Telefónica was acquired by Millicom, the company plans to invest $1.25 billion in the next five years to expand the network and its services to companies in the country.
On May 16, Millicom reported that it closed the acquisition of Telefonía Celular de Nicaragua, S.A., the number one mobile operator in the country, in addition to TIGO Nicaragua's existing cable operation.
The lack of proper infrastructure and the lack of allocation of radio spectrum are some of the reasons why it is difficult for telecommunications companies to improve Internet connection or lower prices for services.
Internet operators in Costa Rica face adversities to improve service and provide better prices to consumers, including the deficit of appropriate infrastructure.
The mergers and acquisitions being reported in Central America are largely because not all companies in the region are willing to make the heavy investments that the transition to 5G technology will require.
The most recent register of the sale of assets of one of the Central American competitors is the case of Telefónica, which on January 24 reported that for $648 million it sold to América Móvil all the shares of Telefónica Guatemala and 99.3% of Telefónica El Salvador.
Liberty Latin America plans to establish a new operations center in Panama City, from where it will coordinate the company's activities at the Latin American level.
The company reported they selected Panama because they plan to take advantage of its economic stability, its profile as a logistics hub in the region and its great physical and digital connectivity.
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 percentage of the population with Internet access in Central America increased 17% between 2016 and 2018, increasing from 44% to 61%.
Data from the report "Internet in Central America 2018", compiled by the Commercial Trade Area of CentralAmericaData:
Currently, Costa Rica is the Central American country with the highest proportion of households with Internet access, with 77% of the total, followed by Panama with 67% and Honduras with 31%.
America Movil reported that planned investments in the Dominican Republic over the next three years will focus on implementing 5G technology and developing new applications.
According to America Movil executives, which owns the Claro Dominicana brand, the Caribbean country is one of the markets where the company has experienced the highest growth in data consumption per user.
The company Tigo has announced that it plans to invest $20 million in the installation of a TIER III data center in the Olocuilta free zone.
George Farkass, vice president of Tigo Business, explained to Laprensagrafica.com that "... The TIER III offers nine levels of reliability, and business continuity regardless of whether any natural disaster happens. It will be for any corporate client, not only for Tigo, and we will be the first to build it, we are not remodeling it, we are building it from scratch."
Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad is evaluating the Salvadoran market to determine if there is an opportunity to establish itself as a new broadband operator.
The state telecommunications company already has a presence in Nicaragua, where in conjunction with the state company Enatrel, it operates the company Telecomunica, which provides internet and television services.
Representatives from the telephone company Tigo in El Salvador, announced that in 2018 they will invest $100 million in the expansion and maintenance of their network.
The telephony company started operating its LTE network last year, and in 2018 it plans to maintain and expand its infrastructure.
Marcelo Alemán, CEO of Tigo El Salvador, told Laprensagrafica.com that the investment of " ... $100 million will be for infrastructure and maintenance works ..." of the network, and it will also be investing "... another $150 million in promoting its products and services ... "
Electrical works, telecommunications infrastructure and a supermarket of the brand Pricesmart are some of the projects for which environmental impact studies were submitted in July 2017.
Data from the interactive information system "Construction in Central America", compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData.
If the proposal put forward by the Superintendence of Telecommunications is successful, the rates for telephony and mobile internet will be free of regulation.
The proposal to declare effective competition in the mobile phone market will put to public consultation for the next 15 days.