5G Americas: LatAm LTE penetration surpasses 20% in 2016

LTE penetration in Latin America stood at an average of 22.5% at the end of 2016, up 8.3 percentage points from 14.8% in 2Q16, with Uruguay leading with 79.6% and four other markets above the regional average, according to think tank 5G Americas.
Citing data from 451 Research, Carrier & Asociados, Cepal, ITC SA, Ovum, Teleco and The CIU, 5G Americas, attributed growth to the increasing awarding of spectrum particularly the 700MHz band for rural coverage and more LTE devices available.
Uruguay had more than double the amount of LTE penetration as its closest rival Argentina (36%). Next follows Chile with 30.8%, Brazil (28.9%) and Costa Rica (27.8%).
Argentina has seen impressive growth in LTE rising from fifth place at the end of 2015 with 10.39% and overtaking Chile to take second place in only two years since the launch of LTE services nationwide. The country saw a 14.3 percentage points increase from 2Q16 to 4Q16.

Uruguay moved from 55.8% in 1Q16 to almost 80%. However, the country is still to see the launch of LTE-Advanced services with carrier aggregation, which are commercially available in Chile and Peru since last year. The high penetration of fiber optic infrastructure in the country and a consumer predisposed to early adoption of technology point to LTE-A being launched in the short term.
Those with the lowest LTE penetration were El Salvador (1.0%), Nicaragua (2.2%), Guatemala (2.6%) and Honduras (2.8%).
Some of those countries have been slow to tender 4G LTE spectrum. Last September, Guatemala's regulator SIT announced plans to tender the 900MHz and AWS bands. El Salvador is also still to tender its 4G spectrum.
In between there was a range between Mexico (21%) and Colombia (18.7%), and Venezuela (6.3%) and the Dominican Republic (5.3%).
Bolivia was the only country that registered a drop in LTE penetration from Q2 to Q4, falling 0.4 percentage points to 14.1%. However, state telco Entel has been moving forward, offering a fiber-based quad play package earlier this month.
Paraguay grew just 2.1 percentage points to 13.3%. LTE spectrum was only awarded at the end of 2015 and the first deployments took place in April. Tigo has said it aims to reach a little more than half of the country's 250 districts by the end of 2017.

Subscribe to the leading business intelligence platform in Latin America with different tools for Providers, Contractors, Operators, Government, Legal, Financial and Insurance industries.
News in: ICT

Ufinet expanding LatAm footprint with Colombia acquisition
UTFO is responsible for Colombia’s fiber optic backbone connecting 788 municipalities.

Sites Latam expands portfolio, consolidates as region's second biggest towerco
The company said it ended last year with 36,661 towers across Latin America, following the deployment of 1,526 new sites throughout the year.
Subscribe to Latin America’s most trusted business intelligence platform.
Other projects in: ICT
Get critical information about thousands of ICT projects in Latin America: what stages they're in, capex, related companies, contacts and more.
- Project: Google Cloud Region in Mexico
- Current stage:
- Updated:
2 months ago
- Project: Liray Data Center Expansion (B6)
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 months ago
- Project: Data Center in Aysén
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 months ago
- Project: Data Hall Quilicura
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 months ago
- Project: Nabiax Data Center (Stage II)
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 months ago
- Project: Optical Mesh - Campos Basin
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 months ago
- Project: Expansion of the Scala Huechuraba Campus Data Center
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 months ago
- Project: Celia CETC submarine cable
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 months ago
- Project: Submarine Cable Aurora
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 months ago
- Project: Patagonia Connect: Fiber Optic Santiago - Buenos Aires
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 months ago
Other companies in: ICT
Get critical information about thousands of ICT companies in Latin America: their projects, contacts, shareholders, related news and more.
- Company: Agencia de Promoción de la Inversión Privada - PROINVERSIÓN  (PROINVERSIÓN)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: Aguas y Estructuras S.A.  (Ayesa)
-
Aguas y Estructuras S.A. (Ayesa) is a Spanish business solutions company specializing in engineering, technology and consulting (ETC). The company provides studies (feasibility,...
- Company: Governo do Estado do Ceará
-
The Ceará state government covers 184 municipalities and 8.7mn residents in northeast Brazil. It develops policies and projects through its infrastructure, water resources, educ...
- Company: General Electric Co.  (GE)
-
General Electric Co. (GE) is a US company engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of various products for the generation, transmission, distribution, control and u...
- Company: Equinix do Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia em Informática S.A.  (Equinix Brasil)
-
Equinix do Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia em Informática S.A. (Equinix Brasil), a subsidiary of US-based Equinix, Inc's local branch - Equinix Do Brasil Participacoes Ltda. - is ...