[Satellite TODAY Insider 03-18-11] The Latin American mobile market will see 100 percent penetration by the end of the first quarter of 2011 despite the fact that 30 percent of the region’s population will still be without mobile services, according to an Informa Telecoms & Media report issued March 17.
      The report also found that Brazil, which passed the 100 percent penetration and 200 million subscriptions milestones by the end of 2010, is now the sixth-largest mobile market in the world, with 206 million subscriptions and the seventh largest by revenues.
     “While the industry should celebrate breaking the 100 percent penetration barrier for the region as a whole, it should continue expanding coverage and innovating to make mobile services more accessible for all those who are not currently mobile subscribers,” Informa Senior Analyst Daniele Tricarico said in the report. “Our research finds mobile penetration rates of 120 percent and higher in some urban areas where users have multiple subscriptions, but in rural areas, mobile penetration rates can fall to 60 percent or lower, partly due to a lack of network coverage.”
     About 27 percent of Latin America’s 568 million mobile and broadband connections are classified as multiple subscriptions where customers have more than one SIM card or have a portable device subscription as well as a mobile phone plan. According to Tricarico, this contrasts with North America, where multiple SIM and portable devices of some kind account for 14 percent of the overall subscription base.
     “If we were to look only at unique subscribers when comparing Latin America and North America then the picture would be rather different,” Tricarico said. “With lower average disposable income, a high proportion of prepaid customers, who represent over 80 percent of the overall Latin American customer base, tend to switch SIM card to take advantage of the best prices depending on the operator and the time of the day. At the same time, an increasing number of high-value customers are adding mobile broadband to their existing voice services. As a result, more people tend to have multiple subscriptions, which is pushing up the overall national penetration figures.”

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