Chile's Telecoms Market: A Review of the Latest Developments
-
Loading... - Sara Koopman
- 12 Dec 2024
- 91 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Chile's telecoms market has seen significant growth and changes in recent months, according to the latest figures from regulator Subtel. The country saw a total of 74,670 connections via low-orbit satellite technologies at end-September, growth of 72.7% since January 1. SpaceX's Starlink service had 67,691 of those connections in the period.
In terms of fixed broadband, Chile ended September with 4.65 million fixed broadband connections across the country, including via satellites, which was growth of 3.1% in the first nine months of the year. The proportion of households with fixed internet was 67.1%. Fiber optics accounted for 70.9% of the total connections, with 3.29 million connections, up 5.9% compared with end-December 2023. Movistar leads the fiber optic market with a 40.5% share, followed by Mundo with 27.2%, GTD with 9.0%, and WOM with 6.3%.
The mobile services market has also seen significant growth, with 5G connections reaching 5.35 million, year-on-year growth of 70.3%, while 4G services were down by 9.6% to 16.6 million. Mobile internet networks (3G, 4G, and 5G) accounted for 22.8 million users at the end of September, up 1.2%. Entel is the operator with the largest number of mobile internet lines, with a 35.1% market share, followed by WOM with 25.4%, Movistar with 19.6%, and Claro with 17.4%.
In mobile telephony, Entel leads the way with 32.3% of the total, followed by Movistar with 23.7%, WOM with 21.9%, and Claro with 19.8%. Fixed telephony continued its downward trend with a drop of 10.9% in January-September to 1.80 million lines in service. Pay-TV subscribers declined 6.6% to 2.92 million, with VTR being the biggest pay-TV operator with 29.3% of the market.
The market has also seen some significant mergers and acquisitions, with Claro recently acquiring control of the joint venture it had with VTR in Chile. WOM announced an agreement with its creditors within the framework of its judicial recovery process that will allow it to strengthen its position in the market and complete the deployment of 5G.
Overall, Chile's telecoms market is experiencing significant growth and changes, with a focus on fiber optics, 5G, and mobile services. The market is highly competitive, with several operators vying for market share.
