Movistar: Mobile Growth Ready for Slowdown

Chilean mobile operator Movistar Chile believes the country's mobile sector is likely to undergo lower rates of growth moving forward due to the maturity of the market, online news service Telcommunity quoted Movistar Chile CEO Oliver Flögel as saying.

With approximately 12 million subscribers Chile has the highest level of mobile phone penetration in Latin America at 74%. The rate is expected to expand to 80% by the end of the year, according to GSM advocacy organization 3G Americas.

Movistar Chile, the local unit of Spain's Telefónica, leads the local market with 5.5 million users, representing a 46% market share. Other key players are Entel PCS and Claro (formerly Smartcom) which is a unit of Mexico's América Móvil.

The extreme competitiveness of Chile's mobile market obliges the three companies to continue investing, Flögel said.

According to the news site, Movistar has invested US$600mn in the last three years, mainly oriented toward modernizing mobile telephony networks.

Flögel also said Movistar's network has increased its traffic by 50% this year and he expects to see it continue growing.

BNAmericas.com"

Posted to the site on 20th September 2006