Isabelle Paradis
September 2008
More
info >>
According
to the information released by HOT TELECOM (www.hottelecom.com)
in its latest report “Mexico
telecom country profile 2008”, Mexico’s
telecom industry has registered significant growth
over the last five years, with telecom revenue increasing
by an average annual rate of 17.3% to US$28.6 billion
at the end of 2007. Mexico’s telecom sector
increased by 27.9% in 2007 and the year-on-year
growth reached an unprecedented 36.4% in the first
quarter of 2008.The telecom sector was mostly stimulated
by the mobile market, the strong trunking sector
as well as the expansion of satellite services.
Mobile
continues to be the most dynamic market, partly
due to an increase in subscribers, but also to an
increase in mobile traffic. Mobile traffic increased
by 48.6% in 2007, the strongest growth since 2000.
At the end of 2007, there were 68.2 million mobile
subscribers and this number had increased to 71.1
million three months later at the end of March 2008.
Mobile
growth started to slow in 2007 and this tendency
should continue over the next 5 years. The number
of mobile customers is therefore forecasted to reach
103 million at the end of 2012, representing a penetration
of 86.2% and an average growth rate of 18.5% over
the next 5 years.
At the
end of 2007, Mexico had 19.76 million fixed lines
in service, and this number had increased by 0.3%
by the end of March 2008 to 19.81 million. The next
5 years should see stagnation in the fixed line
sector, with a forecasted average growth rate of
1.2%, ending 2012 with 20.9 million fixed subscribers.
Most of the growth should come from new operators
in the cable sector, as well as fixed-wireless expansion
in rural areas.
Despite
Mexico’s noteworthy average growth rate of
22.8% in its number of Internet subscribers over
the last 5 years, its Internet sector remains greatly
under-developed, with an Internet penetration rate
as low as 5.3% and 5.8 million subscribers at the
end of 2007. Internet subscribers are forecasted
to grow by 12.9% over the next 5 years to reach
10.7 million at the end of 2012.
Most
of the growth has been and will continue to be generated
by the proliferation of broadband services, as the
number of broadband customers increased by an average
of 84.4% in the last five years to 4.5 million at
the end of 2007. Broadband customers, which now
account for an estimated 79.0% of all Internet connections,
are forecasted to represent 100% of all Internet
customers by the end of 2009.
This
40-page report, which includes 29 details exhibits
and tables on Mexico’s telecom market, declares
that broadband, especially ADSL, is one of the fastest
growing markets in Mexico. The shift from dial-up
to broadband became apparent in 2005, when dial-up
accounts started to decrease, while broadband soared
by around 77.5%. “At the end of 2007, ADSL
connections represented 69.2% of all broadband connections
and 53.9% of all Internet customers” HOT TELECOM’s
president Isabelle Paradis said.
Find
out more about the Mexico telecom market in HOT
TELECOM’s new 40-page “Mexico telecom
country profile 2008” report, which can be
purchased online at: http://www.hottelecom.com/mexico-copr.html.
