Nicaragua: Investment in Telecom Infrastructure Will Support the Uptake of Broadband Services in Less Penetrated Areas

Summary With revenue of $695.8m, or 5.7% of nominal GDP, the Nicaraguan telecom and pay-TV services market was the smallest in Central America. As we move forward, we project that telecom services revenue will expand at a 1.4% CAGR between 2015 and 2020, 0.2 percentage points above the regional average of 1.2%. Growth will be mainly supported by an increasing demand for data services, both fixed and mobile, which we expect to accelerate as mobile operators expand their network infrastructure coverage across the country and as the construction of a state-controlled national fiber-optic backbone network with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) gets underway. Key Findings The Nicaraguan telecom and pay-TV market generated an estimated $695.8m in service revenue in 2015, and we anticipate it will close 2016 at $713.3m, up 2.5% year-over-year. As we move forward, we expect the overall market to grow at a 1.4% CAGR during the 2015-2020 period.·      Nicaragua closed 2015 with an estimated 6.4m active mobile subscriptions and a penetration rate of 101.4%, below the Latin American average (118.8%) but above that of neighbouring Honduras (83.2%). We expect that Nicaraguas mobile subscriber base will continue expanding during the 2015-2020 period at a 4.6% CAGR. We estimate that at year-end 2015, 34.5% of mobile subscribers in Nicaragua were on 3G plans, either UTMS or HSPA. The number of 3G subscriptions will double between 2015 and 2020, reaching 4.5m in 2020. At 5.7%, fixed-line penetration of the population in Nicaragua is the lowest in the region, substantially below the Latin American average (17.3%). Broadband penetration is also one of the lowest, standing at 4.4% at the end of 2015 (vs. 11.8% for Latin America). Nicaragua closed 2015 with an estimated 252,800 pay-TV connections and a household penetration rate of 19.0%, substantially below the regional average (42.1%). Cable is currently the most adopted technology in the market, accounting for 81.8% of pay-TV accounts at year-end 2015, followed by DTH/satellite technology, with 18.2% of the market. Synopsis “Nicaragua: Investment in Telecom Infrastructure Will Support the Uptake of Broadband Services in Less Penetrated Areas” provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Nicaragua today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2020. It delivers deep quantitative and qualitative insight into the Nicaraguan telecom market, analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing risk factors, based on proprietary data from Pyramid Researchs databases. The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following: Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Nicaragua compared with other countries in the Latin American region. Economic, demographic and political context in Nicaragua. The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to national broadband plans and other infrastructure developments. A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data segments. Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2013 to 2020. The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months. In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period. Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in the Nicaraguan telecommunications market. Reasons To Buy - Gain in-depth analysis of current strategies and future trends of the Nicaraguan telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format, to build proactive and profitable growth strategies. - Understand the factors behind ongoing and upcoming trends in the Nicaraguan communications, fixed telephony and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares, to align product offerings and strategies to meet customers demand. - Leverage the graphical information (more than 20 charts and tables in the report based on the Pyramid Research forecast products), to gain an overview of Nicaraguas telecom market. - Analysis of key telecom players in the markets and major business strategies being adopted by them, to identify the opportunities to improve market share. Explore novel opportunities to align your product strategies and offerings to meet the requirements and succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Nicaragua.