Last month, the Colombian operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota (ETB) added mobile voice to its data MVNO offer; now ETB is aiming to reach 1 million subscribers over the next five years from a total target market of 1.8 million fixed lines.
By launching mobile services, ETB expanded its convergent offer, which already had fixed lines and dongles for mobile broadband under an MVNO model.
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ETB is focused on Bogotá, which is Columbia’s largest city and represents 17% of the total population, 26% of Colombian GDP, 34% of total fixed lines and 32% of total broadband subscribers.
In April, ETB launched mobile voice services using Tigo’s network, and currently, the company has approximately 15,000 clients, according to Sérgio González, ETB’s VP for strategic planning.
It might not be the most accurate number or it could show a great beginning, since ETB delivered free of charge SIM cards to its current customers across the country. However, having at least 15,000 subs shows that the company has a very aggressive marketing plan to add subscribers to its base. The question is whether, and how, the company will retain them.
González said that to address future challenges, and in the context of consolidation and potential new entrants, ETB needs to strengthen its participation in the Bogotá market; achieve fixed-mobile convergence in positioning its MVNO offer; upgrade its networks for the provision of new services (by deploying fiber to the home or FTTH); and consolidate its TV offer and migration to digital entertainment.
González also noted ETB is also considering a spectrum allocation for LTE deployment to offer high-speed mobile data.
