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Bolivia has historically been one of the smallest telecommunications markets in Latin America. However, a recent report from Pyramid Research predicts it will become the fastest-growing market in the region.
The report, titled “Bolivia: DTH Launches And Fiber-Optic Backbone Rollout to Drive Video and Data Services,” projects that Bolivia’s telecoms market will expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8% from 2014 to 2019. This growth is expected to be driven primarily by expanded broadband internet access and increased pay TV adoption.
At the end of 2014, Bolivia remained among the least connected countries in South America, with broadband penetration at only 2.1%. As in many emerging markets, however, consumers are frequently bypassing fixed desktop connections and moving directly to mobile internet access.
Mobile subscriptions reached 96% of the population by the close of 2014. Operators are focusing on migrating users from 2G to 3G and newer technologies to support higher data use and improved services, according to Marcelo Kawanami, senior analyst at Pyramid Research.
Pyramid Research forecasts that pay TV penetration will grow substantially, rising from 10.9% of households in 2014 to 27.1% by the end of 2019. The report highlights the launch of Bolivia’s first national satellite service, Tupac Katari, while also noting that cable TV is expected to remain the dominant pay TV delivery method.
Kawanami observed that many segments of Bolivia’s telecom sector are still far less developed compared with other Latin American countries, creating significant opportunities for expansion—particularly in areas such as pay TV and broadband services.
Other studies of the Latin American telecom market echo similar conclusions, especially regarding the prominence of mobile services. Research from RnR Market Research describes mobile as the most competitive telecom sector across the region, with most countries served by at least two or three major providers vying for market share. Emerging-market commentary also emphasizes the central role of mobile devices: in August, Vasileios Tziokas, Upstream marketing manager, noted that mobile phones are critically important in those markets, while cautioning that traditional smartphone app-store models do not always meet the needs of these user bases.