Who is attracting most mobile clients in Uruguay?

The competition for customers in the Uruguayan mobile market remains fierce.

The country ended the first half of 2024 with over 7mn mobile lines in service, which is up from 6.53mn in the same period in 2023, and with state telco Antel firmly in the lead. 

Yet, Antel is also one operator that saw a high number of users migrating to other carriers throughout the year, according to latest number portability data by regulator Ursec. 

At the same time, Antel also attracted a significant number of customers from other telcos.

In total, Antel registered 62,179 ported-in (incoming) lines and 67,511 ported-out ones in 2024. 

Claro attracted most users from its competitors and registered the lowest number of customers leaving.

The company achieved a positive net balance of 38,802 accesses, resulting from 72,896 ported-in lines and 34,814 ported-out ones. 

Telefónica

Movistar reported 73,397 users leaving and recorded the lowest number of ported-in lines among the three main operators: 40,647. 

With this, Uruguay's second largest mobile carrier ended 2024 with a negative net balance of 32,750.

Ursec has not yet released the definitive 2024 figures on accesses and market growth.

Considering mobile internet accesses via pen drive connectors, tablets and M2M/IoT connections, Antel led the market with 62% in June, followed by Movistar (22%) and Claro (16%).