Dominican Republic - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Dominican Republic - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

The Dominican Republic's fixed-line teledensity is well below the Latin American average, a legacy of under-investment in network infrastructure over the years. In common with other markets in the region, the mobile sector has become the preferred platform for voice services. With the rapid development of HSPA and LTE services, mobile broadband has also taken off.
The Dominican Republic's income inequalities are still reflected in the distribution of telephony services, with many communities having very restricted access to service. The government has been addressing the issue of access in recent years and has funded a number of public projects to extend the reach of services to rural and underserved areas.
Considerable changes have developed since the auction of spectrum in May 2014, particularly with the launch of commercial LTE services.
Consolidation in the sector was affected when Orange Group, having invested some $150 million in its local network, sold Orange Dominicana to Altice Group. At the same time, Altice Group acquired the integrated telecoms services provider Tricom Telecom. Altice Group is looking to sell its local unit, while Vietnam's Viettel in late 2018 expressed an interest in investing in the country's telecom sector.
BuddeComm notes that the outbreak of the Coronavirus in 2020 is having a significant impact on production and supply chains globally. During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G may be postponed or slowed down in some countries.
On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, will offset such pressures. In many markets the net effect should be a steady though reduced increased in subscriber growth.
Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report.
The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.

Key developments:

Claro announces major investment programs through to 2022;
Altice sells mobile tower business;
Progress made on National Fiber Optic Network project;
Altice incorporates Dominican Republic within a re-organised international division;
Wind Telecom expands LTE infrastructure;
Mobile Number Portability time reduced to two days;
Report update includes the regulator's market data to September 2018, operator data to Q3 2018, recent market developments.
Assessment of the global impact of COVID-19 on the telecoms sector.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Claro (América Móvil); Altice Dominicana; Tricom; Viva (Trilogy Dominicana)