PUBLISHER: BuddeComm | PRODUCT CODE: 1016592
PUBLISHER: BuddeComm | PRODUCT CODE: 1016592
Honduras - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses
Honduran government providing free internet to 75,000 households
Honduras is among the poorest countries in Central America and has long been plagued by an unstable political framework which has rendered telecom sector reform difficult. This has created real difficulties for telcos as well as consumers. Fixed-line teledensity, at only 4.9%, is significantly lower than the Latin American and Caribbean average. Poor fixed-line infrastructure has been exacerbated by low investment and topographical difficulties which have made investment in rural areas unattractive or uneconomical. Consequently, the internet has been slow to develop. DSL and cable modem technologies are available but are relatively expensive and thus take-up has been low thus far, while higher speed services are largely restricted to the major urban centres. Nevertheless, the demand for broadband is steadily increasing and there has been some investment in network upgrades to fibre-based infrastructure.
On the positive side, these factors have encouraged consumer take-up of mobile services, a sector where there is lively competition supported by international investment. Even so, mobile penetration is substantially below the regional average. Revenue growth from the mobile sector looks promising in coming years as operators invest in their networks, expand their reach and upgrade their capabilities to accommodate mobile broadband services. Mobile data as a proportion of overall mobile revenue has increased steadily, though low-end SMS services will continue to account for the bulk of data revenue for some years.
Political developments during the last few years have not facilitated the much-needed reform of legislation governing the telecoms sector. Partly this is due to political stalemate and ineffective legislators, but underlying the difficulties are the close ties between executives at the incumbent Hondutel and key members of the government.
BuddeComm notes that the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on the telecoms market. On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, has offset such pressures. In many markets the net effect has been a reduced (and sometimes negative) subscriber growth, which will continue into 2021.
Overall progress towards 5G has been postponed or curtailed in some countries.
Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report.
The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.
Key Developments:
- Government provides free internet to around 75,000 households in Honduras;
- BT Group sells its operations and infrastructure in Latin America to CIH Telecommunications Americas;
- Millicom selects US-based Affirmed Networks to deploy cloud-based, 5G-ready core network for its Latin America units;
- Regulator frees up 3.5GHz spectrum for mobile use;
- Tigo and Amazon Web Services partner to offer cloud services;
- Report update includes the regulator's market data to December 2020, telcos' operational data updates to Q4 2020, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of Covid-19 on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.
Companies mentioned in this report:
Hondutel, Comunitel, MultiData, Millicom (Tigo), Digicel, América Móvil (Claro), National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel).
Table of Contents
Key statistics
Regional Latin America Market Comparison
- Telecom Maturity Index by tier
- Market Leaders
- Market Challengers
- Market Emergents
- South America Telecom Maturity Index
- Central America Telecom Maturity Index
- TMI versus GDP
- Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
- Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Country overview
Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector
- Economic considerations and responses
- Subscribers
- Infrastructure
Telecommunications market
- Historical overview
Regulatory environment
- Regulatory authority
- Fixed-line developments
- Privatisation
- CAFTA-DR
- Foreign investment
- Telecom sector liberalisation
- 'Telephony for All' program
- Mobile market developments
- Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
- Spectrum auctions
Mobile market
- Market analysis
- Mobile statistics
- Mobile voice
- Mobile data
- Mobile broadband
- Mobile infrastructure
- 4G (LTE)
- 3G
- Major mobile operators
- Tigo Honduras
- Claro Honduras
- Hondutel Movil
- Digicel
- Mobile applications
- Smart applications
- M-money
Fixed-line broadband market
- Introduction and statistical overview
- Broadband statistics
- Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
- Major ISPs
- Community Telecentres
Fixed network operators
- Hondutel
- Tele+ (Comunitel)
- MultiData
Digital Economy
- e-Government
- e-Learning
Telecommunications infrastructure
- Overview of the national telecom network
- International infrastructure
- Interconnection with other Central American countries
- Submarine cable networks
- Satellite networks
- Infrastructure developments
- Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
- Internet Exchange Point (IXP)
Appendix - Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports
List of Tables
- Table 1 - Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Honduras - 2020 (e)
- Table 2 - Evolution of GDP in Honduras - 2011 - 2020
- Table 3 - Telecom sector revenue ($ million) - 2011 - 2018
- Table 4 - Change in the number of mobile numbers ported - 2014 - 2018
- Table 5 - Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
- Table 6 - Change in the number of mobile prepaid and postpaid subscribers - 2014 - 2020
- Table 7 - Change in the proportion of prepaid and postpaid mobile subscribers - 2011 - 2020
- Table 8 - Change in mobile voice traffic by type (million minutes) - 2010 - 2020
- Table 9 - Change in mobile messaging traffic (million messages) - 2014 - 2020
- Table 10 - Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
- Table 11 - Growth in fixed-line and mobile data traffic (PB) - 2018 - 2020
- Table 12 - Change in the population coverage by mobile technology - 2016 - 2019
- Table 13 - Growth in the number of Tigo's mobile subscribers - 2011 - 2020
- Table 14 - Development of Tigo Honduras's financial data ($ million) - 2014 - 2020
- Table 15 - Increase in the average fixed-line and mobile data rate (Mb/s) - 2018 - 2020
- Table 16 - Internet users and penetration rate - 2011 - 2020
- Table 17 - Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
- Table 18 - DSL and cable broadband subscribers - 2014 - 2018
- Table 19 - Development of fixed-line national traffic (billion minutes) - 2015 - 2020
- Table 20 - Change in the number of Hondutel's fixed subscribers by type - 2016 - 2020
- Table 21 - Development of Hondutel's revenue - 2011 - 2020
- Table 22 - Development of Hondutel's net profit - 2011 - 2020
- Table 23 - Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity - 2011 - 2026
- Table 24 - International bandwidth - 2011 - 2019
- Table 25 - International bandwidth per user - 2007 - 2017
- Table 26 - Blended mobile ARPU - 2012- 2015
- Table 27 - Historic - Evolution of GDP in Honduras - 2000 - 2010
- Table 28 - Historic - Telecom sector revenue ($ million) - 2000 - 2010
- Table 29 - Historic - Telecom sector revenue - 2011 - 2016
- Table 30 - Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate - 1997 - 2010
- Table 31 - Historic - Mobile prepaid/postpaid ratio - 1997 - 2010
- Table 32 - Historic - Tigo mobile subscribers - 2000 - 2010
- Table 33 - Historic - Tigo Money users - 2014 - 2015
- Table 34 - Historic - Internet users and penetration rate - 1997 - 2010
- Table 35 - Historic - Hondutel net profit - 2005 - 2010
- Table 36 - Historic - Fixed lines in service by operator - 1996 - 2011
- Table 37 - Historic - Fixed lines in service - 1996 - 2010
- Table 38 - Historic - International bandwidth - 2000 - 2010
List of Charts
- Chart 1 - Latin America - Overall Telecoms Maturity Index
- Chart 2 - Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index - Market Leaders Category
- Chart 3 - Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index - Market Challengers Category
- Chart 4 - Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index - Market Challengers Category
- Chart 5 - South America -Telecoms Maturity Index by country
- Chart 6 - Central America -Telecoms Maturity Index by country
- Chart 7 - Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita
- Chart 8 - South America mobile subscriber penetration versus mobile broadband penetration
- Chart 9 - Latin America fixed broadband penetration versus mobile broadband penetration
- Chart 10 - Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
- Chart 11 - Change in the number of mobile prepaid and postpaid subscribers - 2014 - 2020
- Chart 12 - Change in the proportion of prepaid and postpaid mobile subscribers - 2011 - 2020
- Chart 13 - Change in mobile voice traffic by type (million minutes) - 2010 - 2020
- Chart 14 - Change in mobile messaging traffic (million messages) - 2014 - 2020
- Chart 15 - Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
- Chart 16 - Change in the population coverage by mobile technology - 2016 - 2019
- Chart 17 - Growth in the number of Tigo's mobile subscribers - 2011 - 2020
- Chart 18 - Development of Tigo Honduras's financial data ($ million) - 2014 - 2020
- Chart 19 - Internet users and penetration rate - 2011 - 2020
- Chart 20 - Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration - 2011 - 2026
- Chart 21 - Development of fixed-line national traffic (billion minutes) - 2015 - 2020
- Chart 22 - Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity - 2011 - 2026
List of Exhibits
- Exhibit 1 - Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
- Exhibit 2 - South America - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country
- Exhibit 3 - Central America - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country
- Exhibit 4 - Spectrum band allocations for LTE - 2013
- Exhibit 5 - Spectrum auction awards - October 2013
- Exhibit 6 - Submarine cable network links to Honduras in 2021
