Panama receives one bid for Digicel concession

Panama’s public services regulator Asep said there was only one bidder in the tender to award a new concession to operate mobile services and assets belonging to Digicel Panama, local press reported.

The bidder was General International Telecom Panamá (Gitpan).

General International Telecom El Salvador was the company that acquired Telefónica's assets in that country for 125mn euros (US$141mn) in 2021.

If the process continues as planned, Gitpan would become the third operator in Panama, behind Cable & Wireless and Tigo.

The tender includes Digicel’s customer base of approximately 300,000 subscribers, a workforce of 170 employees and infrastructure.

The company’s 4G LTE and 3G network includes more than 700 sites and coverage of 80% of the population.

Last April, Digicel decided to request the termination of the concession on the grounds that market consolidation prevented it from competing.

The move led to intervention by Asep, which in August was extended for 180 days.

According to a 2018 law, the local market must have at least three companies licensed to offer mobile phone services.

Asep estimated at the end of 2022 a mobile penetration rate of 157% with 6.89mn users.

Mobile broadband penetration was 62%, of which 90% was LTE.

Prepaid services accounted for 86% of the market.