One of the conditions for authorizing the acquisition is that America Movil must relinquish the right to operate 25 MHz of radio spectrum with national coverage in the 850 MHz band and 30 MHz of radio spectrum with national coverage in the 1900 MHz band, which currently belong to Telefonica.
According to the technical, legal and economic analysis carried out, it was warned that the acquisition would result in limitations to competition in the markets for mobile and fixed telephony and business connectivity services. Therefore, the Board of Directors of the Superintendence of Competition (CDSC) decided to impose a set of conditions to repair the damages, which include enforcement measures prior to the closing of the transaction (ex ante) and a series of subsequent obligations (ex post) in order to counteract such limitations, informed the Superintendence of Competition (SC).
The number of active cell phones in the country reached 5.43 million between 2018, 3% more than what was reported in 2017, increase explained by the behavior of the number of mobile phones with type of service per contract.
Reports of the General Comptroller of the Republic detail that between 2017 and 2018 the number of active cell phones in the country went from 5,280,195 to 5,432,789, which is equivalent to a 3% variation.
Although Samsung and Apple mobile phones represent more than half of the devices used in the region's markets, there is an upward trend in the preference for devices from the Chinese brand Huawei.
An analysis of the Trade Intelligence Area at CentralAmericaData provides interesting data on the use and preference of cell phone brands in the region.
In the Dominican Republic, the Directorate General of Customs decided to increase from 3% to 8% the tax on imports of mobile communication equipment.
The initial decision was to increase to 20% the tax on the import of cell phones, however, after the measure generated objection, the General Directorate of Customs (DGA) decided that finally a tax of 8% will be applied.
In the first half of the year, countries in the region reported $574 million in mobile phone imports, and company purchases in Hong Kong increased 84%.
Figures from the information system on the Mobile Phone Market in Central America, complied by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
The slowdown in domestic consumption in Costa Rica, together with the local currency depreciation, will cause customers to buy fewer high-end technology products.
In the report published by the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) called the October-2018 Economic Situation Report, it is explained that the slow increase in credit, imports of final consumer goods and tax collection are clear indicators of a slowdown in domestic demand. See full report.
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.
During the first quarter of the year, countries in the region recorded $259 million in cell phone imports, and 62% were bought by companies in Guatemala and Costa Rica.
Figures from the information system on the Mobile Phone Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
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.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, mobile telephone lines in Honduras totaled just over 8.2 million subscribers, registering an increase of 5% compared to the third quarter of the same year.
According to a report by the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), at the end of 2017 of the total number of mobile telephony subscribers in the country, 662,652 subscribers were using the Post-payment format, representing 8% of the total subscribers, while 7,570,847 corresponded to the Pre-payment format, representing 92% of the total.
Last year countries in the region imported $1.269 billion worth of mobile phones, which is equivalent to an increase of 10% over the previous year.
Information from the interactive system "Cell Phone Market in Central America", compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, [GRAFICA caption= "Click to interact with graph"]
The number of subscribers to the mobile and fixed Internet services increased from 2.5 million to 2.6 million between December 2016 and September 2017.
According to figures from the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), in the third quarter of last year "... The number of subscribers of fixed internet services reached a total of 245,924 at the end of this quarter of the year, observing a growth of 2.12% compared to the previous quarter.The number of mobile internet subscribers reached a total of 2,111,101, with a growth of 2.95% compared to the previous quarter."
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 roamingservices.
Since rules came into effect on number portability, Costa Rica's state telephone company has lost 559 thousand lines, which have swelled the client lists of the two foreign competitors that operate in the mobile telephony market.
The possibility of keeping the same cell phone number and changing operator has existed since November 2013, and since then, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) has lost almost 560 thousand lines, which passed into the hands of Telefónica, which operates the brand Movistar, and Claro, a brand of the Mexican company América Móvil.
Between January and June 2017, the region imported $590 million worth of mobile phones, 10% more than the imports in the same period in 2016.
Figures from the information system on the Mobile Phone Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with the graphic"]
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