Latin American mobile markets may not grow at the double digit rates they have in the past. Many counties have reached more than 100% penetration, and as penetration increases, the market becomes more saturated. This does not mean, however, that the region won’t grow. Mobile broadband and LTE deployments are expected to push the telecom market forward over the next few years.
According to analyst firm Hot Telecom’s latest survey of11 Latin American countries, mobile penetration in the region achieved 118.5% in 2012, and it is expected to reach 135.8% in 2016. While in the past many mobile markets showed double digit growth, from this year forward, the average might not be higher than 8%.
“Over the next five years, the region is expected to grow an average of 5% in the number of mobile users. The growth is slowing as penetration increases,” Isabelle Paradis, president of Hot Telecom, told RCR Wireless News. In a video interview, Paradis explained how the Latin American wireless market is expected to behave and provided insights on Mexico’s and Venezuela’s mobile markets.
Hot Telecom forecasts that the 11 countries it surveyed are expected to reach 721 million mobile users by 2016, with Brazil accounting for 43.8% of the total regional market, followed by Mexico (16.7%), Argentina (9.9%), Colombia (8.2%), Peru (5.9%) and Venezuela (5.2%).
Follow RCR Wireless News—Americas on Twitter, Facebook and subscribe to our free periodic newsletters
