Argentina’s mobile market is the third largest in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico and in terms of penetration, Argentina is the regional leader. The telecom sector has been growing rapidly, with a penetration of 75% mobile telephony. The three operators, Movistar, Claro, and Telecom Personal, run a close competition for market share. Besides the three main cellular providers, Nextel operates an iDEN network with a small but profitable slice of the market. GSM is the main technology in Argentina, with TDMA and CDMA slated to disappear after June 2008.
All three companies launched 3G services over HSDPA networks in 2007. Approximately 136,000 subscribers use 3G services in Argentina.
Country No. of 3G Users
Telecom Personal 75,000
Claro 50,500
Movistar 10,500
*Total subscribers in Argentina will increase from 38.03 million in 2007 to 44 million in 2010.
* The two largest operators - Movistar Argentina and CTI - will continue to have very similar market shares (by subscribers). It is forecasted that Movistar will increase its current market share from a projected 35.6% in 2007 to 36.8% in 2010 while CTI’s market share will drop slightly to 32.8% in 2010.
* Telecom Argentina will continue to suffer from the highest churn rate in the country at 3% monthly churn rate from 2007 to 2010.
*It is forecasted that Movistar Argentina will have the lowest EBITDA margin of 30.4% in 2010 in Argentina. On the other hand, Telecom Argentina, CTI, and Nextel will enjoy higher EBITDA margins at around 35% - 40% in 2010.
*In 2010 Nextel, will provide services to 2.9% of total subscribers, will receive the highest ARPU of $48.2 per month. It is noted that this is 3 times higher than the closest competitor, Telecom Argentina.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
TotalTele writes…Acquisition Accelerates CTI Group’s Growth Strategy by Expanding Billing Solutions Into Blue-Chip Mobile Service Providers
CTI Group (Holdings) Inc, an international provider of electronic and on-line billing solutions and developer of VoIP business applications, announced that it has acquired Ryder Systems Ltd for approximately $11.0 million.
Ryder Systems Ltd, located in Blackburn, UK, is a European market leader in the provision of electronic and on-line billing services to telecommunications service providers principally in the mobile phone market.
Ryder’s products: Analysis, SplitBill and Dynamic Reports are provided to blue-chip mobile phone service providers, including Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, Verizon, eircom and Opal Telecoms in 6 countries across Europe. They provide business users the capability to manage their mobile and broadband services with the benefit of considerable cost savings to business users and service providers as well as increased customer retention for the latter. Ryder’s products are provided as hosted, licensed and managed solutions with a recurring license business model. Since addressing this market in 2000, Ryder Systems has experienced annual revenue growth rates of greater than 20%. European legislation requiring businesses to accurately differentiate personal and business mobile use for tax purposes ensures a compelling business case to incorporate Ryder solutions in every enterprise business workflow. Ryder Systems’ products are used by over 10,000 enterprises including most of the Times 100.
“This is a compelling strategic transaction that we expect will provide significant synergies between both companies and affords growth opportunities for our customers and shareholders,” said John Birbeck, CTI Group’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Our SmartBill electronic bill management systems are successful in the USA in the fixed-line market, whilst Ryder’s products are thriving in Europe in the mobile phone market. By integrating our operations and migrating both products to the new markets with the same resources, we have the opportunity to leverage the maximum from both markets. CTI Group’s VoIP applications for both IP Centrex and end user systems will also gain new market opportunities as VoIP and mobile services merge,” said Mr. Birbeck.
“We expect the addition of Ryder to CTI Group will enable us to become a world leader in electronic and on-line bill presentment and analysis in the business telecoms market. We believe these markets will continue to grow with the introduction of more VoIP and media content in mobile services to enterprises, making it essential to manage and optimize these disparate communications systems and networks,” enthused Mr. Birbeck.
“As we execute this acquisition we intend to maintain the momentum to create innovative products and penetrate new markets to achieve our growth objectives. We expect these initiatives combined with the transaction will position CTI Group for sustained value creation,” said John Birbeck.
“CTI Group shares our goal to dominate the telecommunications business electronic bill management market,” said Andrew Wilson, VP Sales and Marketing for Ryder Systems. “Our combined strength in this market in addition to CTI’s new developments in the expanding VoIP applications market allows us to enhance our offerings to our global service provider customer base,” said Mr. Wilson.
“Ryder Systems has a strong team with a great business model and a record of innovations in their market,” continued John Birbeck. “We welcome Ryder Systems’ team into CTI Group and anticipate they will continue their growth momentum and success.”
Wireless Mobile Telecom
Argentina’s mobile market (Argentina)
