Responding to slowing growth in mobile and wireless subscriptions, operators in Latin America are moving into mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) deals at an accelerating pace, according to a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media.
MVNO subscriptions in Latin America will grow at an annual rate of 28 percent, to 6.6 million, by 2013, said Júlio Püschel, senior analyst and head of mobile operator strategy at Informa.
The new forecasts were presented at the MVNO Forum 2010 in SãoPaulo, Brazil.
Latin America has been one of the world’s most dynamic growth areas for telecom services, particularly mobile and wireless, over the last few years. Now, however, as saturation reaches 100 percent in the most highly developed markets, such as Argentina and Chile, operators must look to other models to sustain growth.
“The industry in general is transforming itself, with a broad shift in revenue sources toward mobile and broadband,” Frost & Sullivan telecom industry manager for Latin America Ignacio Perrone told VON/xchange last year.
Mexican operator Megacable, for example, said this week that it will launch mobile voice services over Telefonica’s mobile network later this year, according to Reuters. The cableco will bundle mobile voice service with existing offerings, including cable television, high speed internet and fixed line voice. Megacable hopes to sign up some 100,000 mobile subscribers in the first year of the MVNO deal.
Regulatory changes in Brazil, the region’s largest country, will open up the market for MVNOs, “forcing all operators to review their MVNO strategies and plans,” said Püschel.
