Latin America’s mobile penetration nears 100%
Isabelle Paradis
July 2010
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According to the information released by HOT TELECOM (www.hottelecom.com) in its latest report “Latin and North America statistics and forecast 2005-2014”, there were 451 million mobile subscribers at the end of 2009 in Latin America(1). This translated into a 11.9% growth over the year.

By the end of 2009, mobile accounted for 82.5% of all telephone connections in the region, compared with 64.6% in 2004. The number of mobile subscribers is forecasted to have grown by an average of 5.3% to 584 million by the end of 2014 and at that time, mobile penetration should have reached 112.2%. If the current trend continues, HOT TELECOM forecasts that mobile penetration should have surpassed the 100%-mark by the end of 2011.

Brazil and Mexico are by far the region’s two largest mobile markets with 174 million and 83 million mobile subscribers respectively at the end of 2009. Together these two countries generate 57.1% of Latin America’s mobile connections. Argentina and Uruguay both enjoy the region’s highest mobile penetration, standing at 125.7% and 124.6% respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, countries such as Bolivia and Mexico suffer from some of the lowest mobile penetration rates in Latin America with 63.2% and 77.2% mobile penetration respectively at the end of 2009.

Nevertheless, Bolivia benefited from the highest level of mobile growth, with an estimated growth rate of 33.4% in 2009. Peru and Uruguay follow with respective growth rates of 17.9% and 17.2%. This report, which includes 39 detailed exhibits and tables on Latin America and North America’s telecom markets, confirms that the USA surpassed the 300 million mobile subscribers in 2009. “The USA’s mobile penetration is also forecasted to have surpassed the 100%-mark by the end of 2012” HOT TELECOM’s president Isabelle Paradis said.

Find out more on the region’s fixed, mobile, Internet and broadband statistics and forecasts in HOT TELECOM’s new 39-page “Latin and North America telecom statistics and forecast 2005-2014” report, which can be purchased online at:

http://www.hottelecom.com/americas-stats.html

(1) For the purpose of this article, the Latin market consists of the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Mexico.