Internet and E-Commerce in El Salvador

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An article in Ecommerce Journal analyzed the Salvadoran Telecomm market and its opportunities. It noted that once the market was privatized and opened to competition in 1998, foreign and local operators proceeded to invest millions in infrastructure development.

All the telecom sectors in the country have thrived under a competitive environment, but there is no regulation to promote wholesaling broadband connections, so the ADSL market is a virtual monopoly. Its sole competitor is Cable Modem internet access.

It is worth noting that mobile telecommunications seems to be the most developed. SMS and multimedia are slowly replacing voice calls, and there is a clear trend towards 3G networks.
This market is served by 5 operators: Tigo, Movistar, Claro, Digicel and Intelfon.

Source: ecommerce-journal.com

More on this topic

Salvadoran Telecoms in All-Out Commercial War

September 2010

Tigo, Claro, Movistar and Digicel have trimmed some of their prices up to 50%, looking for a larger slice of the telecommunications market.

They have implemented various promotions, ranging from lower international, land and mobile phone calls, internet access and cable television to cell phones that can be acquired from as low as $7.

Tigo Invested $210 Million in El Salvador

July 2009

In the last 10 months, the telecommunications company has invested in improving its technological platform for Internet access.

For Tigo, subsidiary of Millicom, its biggest bet has been its fusion with Amnet, announced in May 2009. Globally, the company has invested $510 million, out of which $210 million were in El Salvador.

Telecomm in El Salvador: $1.9 Billion in 2010

May 2010

A study by Signals Telecom Consulting estimated that in 2015 Salvadoran telecommunications companies will sell more than $1.870 million.

“This is because companies have already started to create ‘combos’ with their services (landline, mobile, cable and Internet), in order to increase their revenues and retain more customers”, reported Laprensagrafica.com.

El Salvador is the Central America's leader in cell phone use

January 2009

By the end of 2008, El Salvador had the largest number of cell phones per person in Central America, with 6.6 million for a population of 5.8 million.

Experts say the large number of cell phones is a reflection of consumerism, promoted by intense advertising campaigns. Another factor that has played a role is the large number of Salvadorans living abroad, many of whom communicate with their families back home via mobile phone.