Colombia’s
fixed market still controlled by the 3 incumbents
in 2011
Isabelle Paradis
February 2011
More
info >>
According
to the information released by HOT TELECOM (www.hottelecom.com)
in its latest report “Colombia Telecom country
profile”, Colombia’s fixed local market,
liberalised since 1994, is still controlled by 3
key operators: Telefonica Telecom, ETB and UNE-EPM,
as they together accounted for 73.9% of all fixed
customers in the country at the end of March 2010.
At the
end of March 2010, Telefonica Colombia (owned by
Telefonica and the Colombian government) controlled
23.5% of the market with 1.7 million fixed subscribers.
Telefonica has embarked on an ambitious market repositioning
process for its brand, tariffs and the quality of
its products. Highlights of these initiatives include
improved broadband service speeds and, at the traditional
business, the launch of flat-rate plans for local
and long-distance domestic voice calls. This process
is already generating positive results in broadband
and TV accesses net adds, driven by increased gross
adds.
UNE-EPM
is owned by the state-owned Empresas Publicas the
Medellin. EPM is Colombia’s third largest
operator with 23.2% market and 1.7 million fixed
subscribers at the end of March 2010. The operator
originally offered services in the city of Medellín
only, but its network now also covers other major
cities, including Bogotá, Cartagena and Cali.
ETB,
owned by the city of Bogotá (86.4%), and
private investors (11.6%), is now Colombia’s
largest telecom company with close to 2.0 million
subscribers, and 27.2% of the market. ETB originally
served only Bogotá, Colombia’s capital
city, but has since expanded its geographical scope
to other cities, including Barranquilla, Cali, Medellín
and Villavicencio.
ETB is
looking for an investor willing to buy a 49.9% stake
in the company in order to bring an injection of
capital. In March 2010, ETB’s president, Fernando
Carrizosa, was reported as saying that ETB required
future annual investment in the region of US$254
million.
Other
fixed operators of importance include Emcali and
Telmex Colombia. Empresas Municipales de Cali (Emcali)
is a state-owned unlisted company that provides
water, telecommunications, and electricity services
in Cali, Colombia. The company had 493,000 customers
in its telecom division, at the end of March 2010,
representing a market share of 6.8%.
Find
out more about the Colombia fixed, mobile and Internet
markets in HOT TELECOM’s new 32-page Colombia
country profile: http://www.hottelecom.com/co-copr.html
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