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Argentina - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts


Description: Argentina is one of the most mature telecom markets in Latin America. This annual report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in Argentina’s fixed-line, mobile, broadband, and pay TV sectors. Subjects include:

- Market and industry analyses and overviews;
- Facts, figures, and statistics;
- Government policies affecting the telecoms industry;
- Telecom infrastructure;
- International satellites and submarine fibre optic cables;
- Major players, revenues, subscribers, mobile ARPU;
- Fixed broadband (ADSL, cable modem, wireless, FttH);
- Internet, VoIP, IPTV;
- Convergence and triple play solutions;
- Pay TV market;
- Mobile voice and data markets;
- Next-generation mobile (3G, 4G, mobile broadband, LTE);
- Scenario forecasts for the fixed-line, mobile, and broadband markets for the years 2015 and 2020

Social networks drive mobile broadband and smart phone growth in Argentina

Argentina's economy has been expanding at a much faster pace than expected, and the economic boom has yet to peak. The telecom market grew by 18% in 2010, and sales are expected to reach more than AR$44 billion (US$10.6 billion) in 2011.

As in other Latin American countries, fixed-line revenues account for a decreasing portion of total telecom revenues, while the share of mobile and data/internet revenues continues to rise. The fastest growing telecom services in 2011 are likely to be mobile broadband and smart phones, which took off in 2010. The increased popularity of smart phones is largely due to the explosion of Twitter and the growth of social networks – especially Facebook.

The country’s regulatory framework encourages competition and supports smaller telecom players. Argentina has adopted a single licence system (Licencia Única), which telecom companies must obtain regardless of the services they wish to provide. Operators must list in their licence applications which services they wish to offer, but can at any time register for additional ones.

Argentina has one of the most solid state-of-the-art telecom infrastructures in Latin America. At 23%, fixed-line teledensity is among the highest in the region. Due to fixed-mobile substitution, however, the number of fixed lines is increasing at a rate that is barely sufficient to keep up with population growth.

The two incumbents, Telefónica de Argentina and Telecom Argentina, dominate the local fixed-line market, but a large number of smaller companies – mostly cooperatives – are also operating, especially in rural areas. The long distance market is highly competitive, and VoIP is well developed.

Argentina is one of the most dynamic mobile markets in Latin America, with penetration rates upwards of 130%. More and more users are signing up for multiple mobile accounts; most Argentineans have prepaid plans rather than contracts, therefore owning two mobile telephones is not a lot more expensive than owning one. Moreover, with the growing popularity of mobile broadband, an increasing number of users require an additional SIM card for their USB modem.

Three mobile operators, Movistar, Claro, and Telecom Personal, run a close competition for market share, each one controlling about one third of the country’s mobile market. All three mobile companies offer 3G services nationwide.

Argentina’s internet penetration is twice as high as the world average and close to that found in European countries. Its fixed broadband penetration on the other hand is less than half of Europe’s, although it is – on a par with Chile’s – the highest in the region. Demand for broadband should remain strong; this market has much potential for growth.

The fixed broadband market is divided fairly evenly between Telefónica de Argentina, Telecom Argentina, and Grupo Clarín. ADSL is the main technology, but cable modem occupies a significant place with about one-fourth of the subscriber base.

Argentina’s pay television market is the most mature in Latin America. In fact, Argentina is a world leader in terms of pay TV penetration, with about three homes out of four subscribing to pay TV services. A controversial Audio-Visual Communications Law limits the number of television licences one company can own and allows telephone cooperatives into the pay TV sector.

Cablevisión, controlled by Grupo Clarín, is Argentina’s pay TV market leader and one of the largest cable operators in Latin America. Grupo Clarín has been locked for the past couple of years in a legal battle with the Argentinean government.

Market highlights:

- Both fixed and mobile number portability are scheduled for implementation in December 2011.

- Argentina’s telecom law establishes that dominant operators must provide access to the local loop, but local loop unbundling was never properly regulated and implemented.

- Argentina is one of the largest markets for satellite services in South America. Two national satellites, Arsat-1 and Arsat-2, are scheduled for launch, in 2012 and 2013.

- Mobile spectrum auctions are expected to take place before the end of 2011, both to reallocate Movistar’s returned spectrum and to offer licences for 3G and 4G (LTE) services. The regulator plans to offer 30MHz of radio spectrum in the 1900 frequency band, 7.5 MHz in the 850 band, and 90MHz in the 1710MHz-1755MHz and 2110MHz-2155MHz bands.

- Both Telefónica de Argentina and Telecom Argentina undertook LTE tests in 2010 – Telefónica de Argentina in partnership with NEC Corporation, and Telecom Argentina with Ericsson and Huawei.

- Argentina’s associations of telecom cooperatives, Fecotel and Fecosur, were awarded mobile licences, which Fecosur used to launch MVNO services in July 2010 under the brand name Nuestro.

- The third largest cable TV company, Telecentro, received a mobile network operator licence in January 2011, with which it can participate in the next spectrum auction. Thus, Telecentro could become the first provider of quadruple play services in Argentina.

- Social networking sites are extremely popular in Argentina, particularly Facebook. In fact, Argentina ranks 13th in the world in terms of Facebook penetration.

For those needing an objective and high-level strategic analysis on Argentina, this report is essential reading and gives further information on:

- The development of Argentina’s fixed-line, mobile, broadband, and pay TV sectors together with industry outlook and forecasts.

- Company performance, ARPU, and spectrum awards.

- Regulatory hurdles and controversies.

- An analysis of Argentina’s broadband sector.

- The development and expansion of mobile broadband and 3G services in Argentina.

- How different scenarios are likely to affect the fixed-line, mobile, and broadband markets in the ten years to 2020.

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.


Contents: 1. Key Statistics

2. Telecommunications Market
2.1 Country overview
2.1.1 Outlook
2.2 Overview of Argentina’s telecom market
2.3 Market analysis – 2011

3. Regulatory Environment
3.1 Background
3.2 Regulatory authorities
3.2.1 Secretaría de Comunicaciones (SeCom)
3.2.2 Comisión Nacional de Comunicaciones (CNC)
3.2.3 Secretaría de Defensa de la Competencia y del Consumidor
3.3 Interconnect
3.4 Number portability (NP)
3.5 Single licence

4. Fixed Network Operators
4.1 Overview of operators
4.2 Telefónica de Argentina (TASA)
4.3 Telecom Argentina
4.3.1 Shareholder disputes and antitrust issues
4.4 Telecom cooperatives
4.5 Claro
4.6 IPLAN

5. Telecommunications Infrastructure
5.1 National telecom network
5.1.1 Fixed-line statistics
5.1.2 Public payphones
5.2 International infrastructure
5.2.1 Submarine cable networks
5.2.2 Satellite networks
5.3 Infrastructure developments
5.3.1 CDMA 450
5.3.2 IP and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
5.4 Wholesale

6. Broadband Market
6.1 Overview
6.1.1 Broadband statistics
6.1.2 Broadband market analysis
6.1.3 National broadband plan
6.2 Broadband players
6.2.1 Overview
6.2.2 Telefónica de Argentina (Speedy)
6.2.3 Telecom Argentina (Arnet)
6.2.4 Cablevisión (FiberTel)
6.3 Cable modems
6.4 Asymmetrical digital subscriber line (ADSL)
6.5 Fibre-to-the-home (FttH) networks
6.6 Wireless broadband

7. Digital Media/Digital Economy
7.1 Digital Media
7.1.1 Media convergence
7.1.2 Broadcasting
7.2 Digital economy
7.2.1 E-government
7.2.2 E-education
7.2.3 E-commerce
7.2.4 Online banking

8. Mobile Communications
8.1 Overview of Argentina’s mobile market
8.1.1 Mobile statistics
8.2 Regulatory issues
8.2.1 Spectrum auctions
8.3 Mobile technologies
8.3.1 Overview
8.3.2 Third Generation (3G) mobile networks (UMTS)
8.3.3 Long-term evolution (LTE)
8.3.4 Mobile handsets/smart phones
8.4 Major mobile operators
8.4.1 Claro (previously CTI Móvil)
8.4.2 Telecom Personal
8.4.3 Movistar
8.4.4 Nextel Argentina
8.4.5 Nuestro – mobile virtual network operator (MVNO)
8.5 Mobile voice services
8.5.1 Prepaid
8.6 Mobile messaging
8.6.1 Short Message Service (SMS)
8.6.2 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
8.7 Mobile broadband
8.8 Mobile satellite

9. Forecasts
9.1 Forecasts – fixed-line market 2010; 2015; 2020
9.1.1 Scenario 1 – higher fixed-line growth
9.1.2 Scenario 2 – lower fixed-line growth
9.2 Forecasts – fixed broadband market 2010; 2015; 2020
9.2.1 Scenario 1 – higher broadband growth
9.2.2 Scenario 2 – lower broadband growth
9.3 Forecasts – mobile market 2010; 2015; 2020
9.3.1 Scenario 1 – higher mobile market growth
9.3.2 Scenario 2 – lower mobile market growth

10. Glossary of Abbreviations

List of Tables:

Table 1 – Country statistics Argentina – 2011
Table 2 – Telephone network statistics – 2011
Table 3 – Internet user statistics – 2011
Table 4 – Broadband statistics – 2011
Table 5 – Mobile statistics – 2011
Table 6 – National telecommunications authorities
Table 7 – Evolution of GDP in Argentina – 2000 - 2011
Table 8 – Fixed and mobile market share – 1998 - 2011
Table 9 – Telecommunications revenue – 2001 - 2011
Table 10 – Telecom revenue by segment – 2006 - 2011
Table 11 – Fixed lines in service – market share – 2003 - 2011
Table 12 – TASA fixed lines in service – 2000 - 2011
Table 13 – Telecom Argentina fixed lines in service – 2000 - 2011
Table 14 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1996 - 2011
Table 15 – Public phones – 1996 - 2011
Table 16 – TASA wholesale accesses – 2005 - 2010
Table 17 – Internet users and user penetration – 1996 - 2011
Table 18 – Fixed broadband subscribers and penetration rates – 2001 - 2011
Table 19 – Fixed broadband market share by technology – 2003 - 2011
Table 20 – Broadband operators’ market share – 2003 - 2011
Table 21 – TASA – broadband subscribers – 2001 - 2011
Table 22 – Telecom – broadband subscribers – 2003 - 2011
Table 23 – FiberTel/Flash – broadband subscribers – 2003 - 2011
Table 24 – Cable modem subscribers and penetration rates – 2001 - 2011
Table 25 – ADSL subscribers and penetration rates – 2001 - 2011
Table 26 – Pay TV (cable and satellite) subscribers and penetration rates – 1999 - 2011
Table 27 – Pay TV operators’ market share – 2010
Table 28 – Cablevisión cable TV subscribers – 2000 - 2011
Table 29 – Mobile subscribers and penetration – 1997 - 2011
Table 30 – Mobile operators’ market share – 1999 - 2011
Table 31 – Evolution of mobile ARPU in Argentina – major operators – 2007 - 2010
Table 32 – 3G subscribers and penetration – 2007 - 2011
Table 33 – Mobile handset sales – 2004 - 2010
Table 34 – Claro – mobile subscribers – 1999 - 2011
Table 35 – Personal – mobile subscribers – 1999 - 2011
Table 36 – Movistar – mobile subscribers – 1999 - 2011
Table 37 – Nextel – mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2011
Table 38 – Mobile prepaid/postpaid ratio – 2004 - 2010
Table 39 – Mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2008 - 2011
Table 40 – Forecast fixed lines – higher growth scenario – 2010; 2015; 2020
Table 41 – Forecast fixed lines – lower growth scenario – 2010; 2015; 2020
Table 42 – Forecast broadband subscribers – higher growth scenario – 2010; 2015; 2020
Table 43 – Forecast broadband subscribers – lower growth scenario – 2010; 2015; 2020
Table 44 – Forecast mobile subscribers – higher growth scenario – 2010; 2015; 2020
Table 45 – Forecast mobile subscribers – lower growth scenario – 2010; 2015; 2020

List of Charts:

Chart 1 – Fixed and mobile subscribers in Argentina – 1997 - 2011
Chart 2 – Fixed and mobile subscribers in Argentina by market share – 1998 - 2011
Chart 3 – Evolution of telecom revenue in Argentina – 2001 - 2011
Chart 4 – Telecom revenue breakdown at a glance – 2006 - 2011
Chart 5 – Fixed-line market share at a glance – 2011
Chart 6 – Fixed broadband technologies at a glance – 2003 - 2011
Chart 7 – Broadband market share at a glance – 2003 - 2011
Chart 8 – Pay TV operators’ market share at a glance – 2010
Chart 9 – Mobile market share at a glance – 2011
Chart 10 – Operators’ mobile ARPU – 2007 - 2010

List of Exhibits:

Exhibit 1 – Map of Argentina
Exhibit 2 – Telefónica de Argentina at a glance
Exhibit 3 – Telecom Argentina at a glance
Exhibit 4 – Claro at a glance
Exhibit 5 – Claro (mobile) at a glance
Exhibit 6 – Telecom Personal at a glance
Exhibit 7 – Movistar at a glance


Summary: Argentina has one of the most solid state-of-the-art telecom infrastructures in Latin America. In 2009, despite the economic downturn, telecom revenues were up by 11% year on year. Broadband revenues enjoyed the highest growth rate, followed by mobile telephony.

Argentina's telecom market in 2010 is unlikely to behave very differently from 2009. The fixed-line market will doubtless continue to stagnate. The mobile market will probably continue to expand at a slightly lower rate than in 2009. Broadband will be Argentina's fastest growing telecom sector. Demand for fixed broadband should remain strong – this market has much potential for growth, as has mobile broadband.

Argentina's fixed-line teledensity is higher than in neighbouring Brazil and Chile – in fact, it is one of the highest in Latin America. Two regional incumbents, Telefónica de Argentina and Telecom Argentina, dominate the local fixed-line market despite liberalisation, but the long distance market is highly competitive and VoIP is well developed.

With penetration rates upward of 120%, Argentina is, together with Uruguay, the leader in South and Central America. And yet the Argentine mobile market continues to grow, as more and more users sign up for multiple mobile accounts. Three operators, Movistar, Claro, and Telecom Personal, run a close competition for market share.

All three mobile companies offer 3G services nationwide. Mobile broadband is becoming increasingly popular, driven by the shortage of fixed broadband accesses outside of the main urban centres and the expansion of 3G networks.

In terms of Internet user penetration, Argentina is the regional leader, with a rate more than twice as high as the world average. The broadband market is one of the most developed in Latin America, only second to Chile's. ADSL is the main broadband technology, but cable modem occupies a significant place with about one-fourth of the subscriber base.

The market is divided fairly equally between Telefónica de Argentina, Telecom Argentina, and Grupo Clarín. All three companies offer broadband wholesale services, but continue to dominate the market. Argentina's telecom law establishes that dominant operators must provide access to the local loop, but Local Loop Unbundling was never properly regulated and implemented.

Argentina's pay television market is the most mature in Latin America. In fact, Argentina is a world leader in terms of cable TV penetration, with more than one home out of two being subscribed to cable TV services.




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