Summary
Honduras-Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband
Besides being the second poorest country in Central America, Honduras has an extremely unequal distribution of income. About 70% of the population lives below the poverty line.
Teledensity is about 14% lower than average for Central America. Nevertheless, it is better than one would expect based on the country's other economic indicators. Mobile penetration is about average for Central America and quite high compared with GDP per capita.
Fixed-line telephony has been partly liberalised, with long-distance telephony open to competition, but local services are still a monopoly of state-owned Hondutel and its franchise partners. Laws governing full liberalisation have been delayed amid allegations of corruption and political wrangling over the role of Hondutel.
The mobile sector, on the other hand, is highly competitive, with four operators offering services. The market leader is Millicom's Tigo, followed by America Movil's Claro. Digicel entered the market in November 2008.
The Internet has been slow to develop in Honduras. ADSL is still primarily used by corporate customers. Nevertheless, the demand for broadband is increasing.
Key Highlights
VoIP telephony services are more readily available than normal phone service and significantly cheaper. For more information, see Honduras-Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband, chapter 7.3.2.
Three companies have received WiMAX licences. There are good investment opportunities for wireless DSL and WiMAX, since the fixed-line and cable networks have insufficient capacity. For more information, see Honduras-Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband, chapter 9.1.
Millicom International, the leading mobile provider in Honduras through Tigo, has acquired cable TV and triple player Amnet. For more information, see Honduras-Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband, chapter 10.2.1.
Honduras is the first and only country in Central America to have chosen a Digital Terrestrial TV standard: the government has opted for the US ATSC. For more information, see Honduras-Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband, chapter 10.3.
Both Claro and Tigo have launched 3G mobile services based on WCDMA technology. For more information, see Honduras-Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband, chapter 11.2.1.
