Panama has benefited from maintaining one of the region’s highest GDP growth rates in recent years. The country’s economic prospects remain promising despite a dip in GDP growth into 2015. Nevertheless, strong growth in recent years has had a positive knock-on effect on the Panama’s telecom market, which has also grown steadily and attracted considerable investment. Telecom revenue has broached $1 billion, with mobile services and broadband being the fastest growing sectors.

Panama’s fixed-line teledensity is well below average for the region, though it is rising steadily from a relatively low base, largely due to alternative operators making use of cable or fixed-wireless networks.
Competition remains limited in the broadband sector, where the incumbent Cable & Wireless Panamá has resisted unbundling its local network and as a result has secured a virtual monopoly in the delivery of DSL access. The only cross-platform competition is from cable modem and WiMAX services.

The mobile sector has flourished in recent years, and the popularity of having multiple SIM cards has pushed mobile penetration rates above 190%, considerably higher than the regional average. The arrival of two new mobile players at the beginning of 2009 resulted in additional competition and steep price reductions which have shaken the market. Digicel Panamá launched operations in 2008, followed by América Móvil’s Claro in 2009. This ended the duopoly long enjoyed by Cable & Wireless Panamá and Telefónica’s Movistar.

Internet penetration has grown in recent years and is expected to do so steadily into 2016 as a result of consumer demand for services as well as the stimulus of the government’s Internet for All project. In 2010, Panama became one of the first countries in the world to offer free wireless broadband access nationwide. The National Internet Network project does not compete with private broadband providers, because its aim is digital inclusion and not the provision of broadband access.

  Panama – penetration by service – 2015 (e)

Service	Penetration
Broadband	9.0%
Fixed-line	15.1%
Mobile (SIM)	159%

   

 Key developments:

– Movistar and C&WP launch LTE services;
– Mobile number portability encouraging competition in the mobile sector;
– The Internet for All (RNI) project helping drive internet penetration;
– Panama in Phase 2 of the switch to digital broadcasting, with the process expected to be complete by September 2017;
– Columbus signs on to manage the SAPL cable landing in Panama;
– Regulator invests $12 million to distribute 400,000 STBs in a bid to encourage DTTV take-up;
– Broadband for Central America project aims to closing the digital divide by 2020.
– C&WP has launched its +TV Digital DTH platform, aiming to provide content to remote areas which cannot receive cable services.