Venezuela’s, mobile market, is far more dynamic than the fixed-line market, so much so that mobile phones outnumber fixed lines in service by around 4.7 to one. Mobile penetration is among the highest in Latin America. Venezuela is the regional leader in terms of SMS traffic, the number of text messages surpassing the number of minutes an average Venezuelan talks on a mobile phone. Venezuela is the only country in Latin America where CDMA is still the leading technology, but the two leading mobile operators, Movilnet and Movistar, are finally turning to GSM.
Notable highlights of the 3Q08 Venezuela Mobile Forecast include:
- The number of subscribers in Venezuela will increase from 28 million in 2008 to a forecasted 31.6 million in 2010.
- The wireless penetration level in the country will increase from 100.1% to 108% over this period.
- It is forecasted that Movilnet and Movistar Venezuela will be losing market share to Telvenco. Movilnet is expected to see its market share decline from its projected 40% in 2008 to 39.1% in 2010 while Movistar Venezuela will see a similar drop in market share from 38.3% in 2008 to 38.8% in 2010. On the other hand, Telvenco which will see its market share increase from 21.8% to 22.5% over this period.
- Movistar Venezuela will continue to receive the highest ARPU in the country. However, its monthly ARPU will still decline from US$ 23.34 in 2008 to US$ 19.15 in 2010. Overall, the average ARPU in the country will fall from US$ 18.52 to US$ 15 over this period.