Panama: 4G Network Expansion and Government’s National Broadband Plan to Drive Data Revenue Growth

Panama: 4G Network Expansion and Government’s National Broadband Plan to Drive Data Revenue Growth

Summary

In 2016, Panama was the third largest telecom services market in Central America, behind Guatemala and Costa Rica, with estimated revenue of $1.3bn or 2.4% of GDP. This represents a 2.4% increase relative to 2015, mainly driven by fixed broadband, pay-TV and mobile data segments.

Key Findings

• The fixed/mobile revenue split will continue to be inclined toward the mobile segment throughout the forecast period. Nevertheless, fixed services revenue share will increase, driven by government’s national Internet network initiative for expanding Internet penetration in the country and attractive double and triple play services from operators such as Cable &Wireless Panama (CWP) and Cable Onda.
• The top two operators, CWP which provides fixed, mobile and pay-TV services and Digicel Panama, which provide mobile services, accounted for 57.7% of overall service revenue in 2016. CWP will continue to lead the Panamanian telecom market, throughout the forecast period, supported by strong investments in 4G network expansion and network modernization of its fixed infrastructure.
• LTE network expansion along with the rising demand for high-speed mobile data and increased availability of LTE-enabled smartphones will boost LTE subscriptions in Panama over the forecast period.

Synopsis

Panama: 4G Network Expansion and Government’s National Broadband Plan to Drive Data Revenue Growth’ a new Country Intelligence Report, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Panama today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile and pay-TV sectors, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.

The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:

• Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Panama compared with other countries in the region.
• Economic, demographic and political context in Panama.
• The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.
• A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony (including VoIP), broadband, mobile voice, mobile data and pay-TV markets.
• Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed/pay-TV and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.
• The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.
• In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, mobile data and pay-TV services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.
• Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Panama’s telecommunications and pay-TV markets.

Reasons To Buy

• This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Panama’s telecommunications and pay-TV markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.
• Accompanying Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Panama’s mobile communications, fixed telephony/VoIP, broadband and pay-TV markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.
• With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.
• The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Panama’s telecommunications and pay-TV markets.
• The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Panama.