AP News -- Mobile phones in Latin America now outnumber telephones linked to fixed lines.
January 4, 2002
Latin America Cell Phones Grow
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:14 p.m. ET
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mobile phones in Latin America now outnumber
telephones linked to fixed lines, according to an industry report released Friday.
Countries in the region appear to be skipping the expense of upgrading poor
fixed-line networks by using less-cumbersome wireless and mobile-phone
technology, which includes cellular phones.
At the end of 2001, 18 countries in Latin America had 83.4 million mobile phone
users, or 17 percent of households, compared to the region's 83 million fixed
lines, said Daniel Torras, the report's author and director of the Latin America
division for the telecommunications consulting firm Pyramid Research in
Cambridge, Mass.
The survey excludes most of the Caribbean and small nations like Belize or the
Guyanas.
While poor infrastructure makes wireless telephone services more accessible for
many Latin Americans, prices for wireless hookups remain higher. But costs are
expected to fall, the report noted.
The total number of wireless subscribers in Latin America rose by 34.8 percent
in 2001, yet revenue only rose by 14.8 percent to $22 billion. The majority of
new subscribers in the region buy prepaid service plans, which bring in less
revenue, the report said.
The average revenue per subscriber actually fell 19.1 percent in 2001, with usage
dropping to an average of 99 minutes a month last year. The average subscriber
used 99 minutes each month last year, rather than 112 minutes in 2000.
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On the Net:
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Copyright 2002 The Associated Press |
