Spotlight: The DomRep telecommunications market

Claro (América Móvil) is dominating the Dominican Republic’s mobile telephony, internet, and pay-TV markets, leading to debates about special regulations.

Watchdog Indotel mulls reviewing markets that may be subject to ex ante regulation upon request of operator Viva (Trilogy Partners). Viva claims Claro enjoys infrastructure and conditions that raised a “marked tendency to monopoly,” local media reported.

Although a decision has not been made yet, Indotel recently determined that wholesale fixed networks, termination of communications in fixed networks, access and origin in mobile networks, termination of communications in mobile networks, and national or carrier transportation markets may be subject to ex ante regulation.

Indotel is working on determining operators with a dominant position and identifying measures to prevent abusive practices while fostering competition, according to a statement.

MOBILE TELEPHONY

At the end of August, 9.4mn mobile lines were in service, an annual growth of 8.44%, according to latest Indotel figures.

With 5.7mn lines, Claro is the leader, followed by Altice with 3.1mn, and Viva with 492,887.

Claro has spectrum in the 800MHz, 1,700MHz, 2,100MHz and 2,500MHz bands. In the last 5G spectrum tender, the operator acquired 70MHz in the 3.3-3.4MHz band for an annual amount of US$2.66mn.

Altice has frequencies in the 900MHz, 1,800MHz, 1,900MHz bands. This year, it was awarded 70MHz of spectrum in the 3.4-3.6MHz bands for US$1.44mn.

Viva did not participate in the last spectrum tender. Besides having the fewest users, it also has the least amount of spectrum and hardly any frequencies in the 1,900MHz mobile band, according to Indotel.

INTERNET

Internet accesses grew 10.6% to 9.18mn lines, some 800,000 more than in August 2020. Claro captured 98.3% of new subscribers, which totaled 61,329 and had 5.4mn internet service clients. Altice followed with 3.2mn, Viva with 390,179 and Wind Telecom with 47,990.

About 4.5mn Claro internet clients used wireless mobile technologies by June, according to Indotel. The rest used dial-up and fiber optics (FTTx ) in almost equal parts.

Altice, with 2.9mn mobile internet clients, had 182,499 users on cable modem networks and the rest on xDSL and FTTx.

Viva does not have fixed broadband business, so all its internet clients use mobile services.

PAY TV, FIXED TELEPHONY

The number of pay-TV clients grew 4.71% to over 801,900 clients by end-August. Claro has 455,469, followed by Altice with 141,619 and Viva with 2,436.

Fixed telephony (traditional and VoIP) represents 10.9% (1.15mn) and mobile lines 89.1% (9.42mn) of the voice service segment.

Again, Claro leads with 538,090 lines, followed by Altice (61,121) and Viva (34,546). Fixed telephony was the only service that registered decreasing figures, falling 0.16%.