Digicel in Honduras and Panama Encourages Technical Innovation in Competitors; WiMAX to Enable Digicel’s Convergent Offer

This is a snapshot of a report I got about Digicel’s launch and promotional activities in the Central American markets and how it’s competitors like Claro are responding. It begins here. Delays in the commercial launch of Claro Panama will benefit growth by Digicel in this market. Development of UMTS/HSPA networks and services by Tigo, Cable & Wireless and Claro in the various Central American markets will force Digicel to deploy this technology in the next 12-18 months, and to use WiMAX to sell broadband services, and eventually PayTV services.
“Digicel’s promotional offers for its launch in Panama are surprising, as they are not as aggressive as those used when launching in markets such as El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago, where after three minutes the rest of the call to fixed lines and “On Net” was free, with no limit. Furthermore, analysis of the “Off Net” rates being offered by Digicel shows that there is little difference with those that exist in both markets offered by Tigo and Claro in Honduras, or by Movistar and Cable & Wireless in Panama, once these operators multiply balances by three for pre-paying customers. The biggest rate difference is with Hondutel, which continues to offer the lowest rates in Honduras, although its coverage is restricted to four cities” stated Elías Vicente, Signals Telecom Consulting analyst and principal author of the series of reports on Central America.

The entry of new mobile telephone service operators in the markets of Honduras and Panama, the future opening-up of the Costa Rican market and the interest in increasing mobile licenses in Nicaragua are transforming the competitive dynamic of the Central American telecommunications sector. Launches of UMTS/HSPA networks (Tigo, Claro, Movistar and Cable & Wireless) and the interest being shown in expanding Pay TV services (Claro and Tigo/Amnet) will force other market players to speed up the launch of new services and promotions that will help them to increase customer retention. Source: SignalsTelcom Consulting

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