Report: LatAm Mobile Users Up 33%, but No VAS Growth"

The number of mobile users in Latin America grew 33% in 2005 compared to 2004, but users have yet to increase adoption of value added services, which represent the largest revenues for operators, according to a new study by Fitch Ratings.

Latin America was the fastest growing region last year, followed by Asia Pacific with 19%, North America with 15% and Europe with 9%.

The largest growth was in those markets where users are looking for basic, non-expensive voice services, and Latin America did not stand out in terms of the growth of mobile data services, according to Fitch.

However, Fitch expects the Arpu from data services to grow in the next years.

"Average Arpu in Latin America reached about US$14 in 2005, the highlights being Chile with US$13, Brazil with US$14, Mexico with US$18, Colombia with US$11 and Venezuela with US$23," Erasmo Rojas, Latin America and Caribbean director at GSM agency 3G Americas told BNamericas.

Nonetheless, the percentage of data use compared to voice will rise slightly by 2009, to 17% of Arpu compared to 9% in 2005, according to US consultancy Pyramid Research.

Rojas said one of the elements slowing down the adoption of value added data services in the region is the high number of prepaid users, who even set limits for the number of voice minutes they use.

"Prepaid users continue looking at data as messaging which has grown considerably in Latin America, because it is a cheap way to communicate. We are seeing an increasing use of value added services in the corporate segment, because there are new products in the market that allow access to corporate e-mail, for instance," Rojas added.

The executive estimates there will be a massive penetration of value added services once operators and other industry players make mobile content, such as multimedia messages or video streaming, more available.

BNamericas.com"

Posted to the site on 18th May 2006