Panama’s public service regulator Asep has released a report on the status of the telecom and broadcasting industries, shining a light on details about concession processes, among others.

The report was recently published on the regulator’s telecom unit’s website and includes data from November 2019 to October 2020.

Mobile

Asep’s network unit registered 280,259 ported numbers in the period. Some 96.75%, or just over 270,000, were mobile phone lines, while the remaining 3.25% were fixed lines.

The regulator, which is in charge of assigning and recovering ported numbers, awarded 200,000 new mobile numbers and 63,000 new fixed numbers.

Panama became the first Central American country to introduce number portability in 2011, and it is the only measure used by the regulator to quantify fixed and mobile lines.

Fixed and mobile ports fell sharply during the pandemic.

In April, mobile telephony ports dropped by 12,000 to a base of 1,424 lines, according to the report. Meanwhile, ported fixed lines decreased from 891 to 121 lines in March and April.

Although ported numbers for both services have been recovering, the COVID-19 emergency caused negative effects despite rising demand for connectivity during the lockdowns.

Prepaid lines, on the other hand, remain the most popular option among mobile users, representing over 80% of the total amount of mobile services in four consecutive years.

Another customer preference is 4G technology, which reached a base of 2.7mn in October.

More estimates for 2020 by the regulator include a territorial coverage of 38%, population coverage of 96% and average voice network traffic of 1,274 and 699 satellite minutes in mobile and fixed services, respectively.

As far as mobile density, Asep estimates that there were 133 cellphone devices per 100 citizens in 2020.

The report did not provide details about market concentration.

Dominant players are Grupo de Comunicaciones Digitales, Cable & Wireless Panamá, Digicel Panama, América Móvil’s Claro Panamá and Telefónica‘s Movistar. The latter sold its business in Panama and Nicaragua to Millicom earlier this year.

Spectrum

The regulator’s telecom unit said it is still monitoring, measuring and inspecting frequencies within the 3.3GHz and 3.5GHz bands, which are highly demanded and have been identified as potential 5G frequencies.

Panama has not authorized the deployment of 5G networks and public concerns over alleged health risks forced Asep to clarify in May that the new technology was still under review. However, experts believe Panama will see its first 5G networks in 2021, although many challenges related to infrastructure could halt the process.

Meanwhile, the regulator is seeking to assign more than 3,000MHz of the spectrum to 3G mobile services through the 2.3GHz and 26GHz bands, and part of that spectrum will come from the cancellation of frequencies in the 2,300MHz and 2,400MHz bands, the report said.

Boosting 3G services is part of the country’s plan to end the digital divide and reach disconnected rural areas.

Over the year, the regulator received over 500 applications for frequency concessions, of which almost 300 were awarded. It also canceled almost 800 concessions that are now controlled by the state.

The total amount of awarded concessions represents US$1.3mn in revenues for the government.

Broadcasting 

While the report does not include information and statistics regarding content consumption or the market share in free-to-air TV, paid TV or OTT media services, it contains updates on four regulatory processes that could change the industry.

Asep’s radio, TV and radioelectric spectrum unit said that a public tender to award five FM radio frequencies is still open. The unit is waiting for the comptroller and ministry of economy and finance (MEF) to evaluate the prices for the concessions.

Other concession decisions involve awarding a new pay-TV concession to an unnamed broadcaster and extending the concession period for TV and radio operators whose contracts expire in 2024.

Stay Safe!!