Panama to get Public and Private 5G in 2024

Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. Panama is known as a transit country because of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal, a famous feat of human engineering, cuts through its center, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to create an essential shipping route.

According to GSMA Intelligence, Panama had 5.34 million cellular mobile connections at the beginning of 2024. However, it's important to recognize that many individuals globally use more than one mobile connection—such as having one for personal use and another for work—so it's common for the number of mobile connections to surpass the total population.

GSMA Intelligence reports that in January 2024, mobile connections in Panama represented 118.6 percent of the population. Between the start of 2023 and the start of 2024, the number of mobile connections in Panama decreased by 6,999, a decline of 0.1 percent. Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 5.34 million cellular mobile connections in Panama at the start of 2024.

GSMA Intelligence’s numbers indicate that mobile connections in Panama were equivalent to 118.6 percent of the total population in January 2024. The number of mobile connections in Panama decreased by 6,999 (-0.1 percent) between the start of 2023 and the start of 2024.

Operator Digicel is featured in the most recent report by OpenSignal on Panama however Panama’s ICT regulator Asep will terminate operator Digicel's concession due to a failure to find a buyer for its assets and keep the contract valid.

Digicel has spectrum in the 1900MHz and 700MHz bands, as well as a network involving over 700 sites, covering 80% of the population. However Digicel exited Panama in 2022, claiming it was unable to compete in a market dominated by Tigo and C&W, after a Claro and C&W Panamá merger received the green light.

But law mandates that the country must have at least three mobile phone operators to guarantee competition. To attract at least one other player, Asep is planning an update of its telecoms law to simplify procedures, promote competition and create new business models to facilitate infrastructure and spectrum sharing.

Meanwhile second largest operator Cable & Wireless Panama (+Móvil) will be implementing a pilot test in a controlled environment with the fifth generation of mobile network technology (5G) in the national market.  +Móvil will be carrying out pilot tests using the 5G network in the 3.5 GHz band , with the aim of evaluating results that allow it to provide solutions to selected companies. 

The tests also include projects with strategic allies in the retail sector, implementing an extended 5G LAN network for video surveillance systems in distribution and storage centers. Another pilot project is being carried out in one of the main ports in Panama, where remote control platforms will be managed through the 5G Wi-Fi network.

Hoy más que nunca, reiteramos nuestro compromiso de inversión constante para que la mejor y más moderna red, esté siempre contigo. 💪🏽💫
¡CRECEMOS CONTIGO PANAMÁ! pic.twitter.com/lxJRao16kQ

— Tigo Panamá (@TigoPanama) July 24, 2024

Tigo as of January 2023 reportedly had 2.4 million mobile subscriptions in Panama, plus an additional 469,000 fiber customers.

Tigo Panama has pledged $100 million towards the modernizing and expansion of its network this year. This latest spend comes on top of the $475m that Tigo has invested in the country since Millicom International Cellular closed the takeover of Cable Onda in December 2018.

Tigo's latest investments will be used to increase its LTE capacity in the country to new areas, which currently sits at 95 percent.

According to the company, this part of the network is already prepped for the implementation of 5G. The company will also increase its fiber footprint, with Tigo saying that it will deploy fiber-optic networks to 90,000 homes in Puerto Armuelles, Colon City, Panama City, ​​Penonome, Azuero, and San Miguelito.

According to Bnamericas, the Panama canal authority (ACP) expects to finish deployment of a private 5G network around the end of this fiscal year, in September-October. The mobile infrastructure is currently in the installation and pilot testing phase, Augusto Sánchez, ACP interconnectivity manager, said during an event hosted by the Organization of American States' (OAS) Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (Citel) in Panama. ACP is working on a private network directly with an equipment provider, regulator Asep previously told BNamericas. The aim is to implement the mobile network throughout ACP's areas of operations. 

Millicom targets Leadership Position in Central America with acquisition of Telefónica Subsidiaries

Millicom announced last week that it has closed the acquisition of Telefonía Celular de Nicaragua, S.A., the number one mobile operator in the country, adding to its existing cable operation of TIGO Nicaragua. This is the first transaction to close since Millicom announced in February an agreement to acquire three subsidiaries of Telefónica in Central America in Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Telefonía Celular de Nicaragua, S.A. adds approximately 4 million mobile customers to TIGO with a 4G network accessible to 51% of the population in Nicaragua. The transaction accelerates the execution of Millicom’s fixed-mobile convergence strategy, it helps consolidate the company’s leadership position in Central America, and it diversifies and balances the geographic footprint of the company in its mission to build digital highways that connect more users and develop communities throughout the region.

For people who are not aware, Central America consists of 7 countries, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Of these, Millicom is present in 5 of them with their brand Tigo.

This transaction in Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua will allow Millicom to accelerate its Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) strategy.

In Panama, after the acquisition:

• #1 mobile operator in a four-player market with 1.6 million customers
• 4G network covers 74% of population
• Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA CAGRs of approximately 4% and 7%, respectively, in 2015-2018, in US dollar terms
• 2018 revenue of $223 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $90 million, resulting in a margin near 41%
• Dollarized economy and investment grade country increasing Millicom’s US dollar revenue sources

In Costa Rica, after the acquisition:

• #2 mobile operator in a three-player market with 2.4 million customers
• 4G network covers 85% of population
• Revenue CAGR of approximately 13% in 2015-2018, in US dollar terms, drove much faster EBITDA growth over the period
• 2018 revenue of $253 million and EBITDA of $60 million, resulting in a margin near 24%

In Nicaragua, after the acquisition:

• #1 mobile operator in a two-player market with 4.7 million customers
• 4G network covers 51% of the population
• Revenue has declined at a 2.5% CAGR in US dollar terms in 2015-2018, due in part to a weaker currency and to slower overall economic activity
• 2018 revenue of $232 million, nearly 50% of which are denominated in US dollars, and Adjusted EBITDA of $92 million, resulting in a margin near 40%

Finally, with regards to Spectrum the three countries:

Reasonable amount of spectrum is available for existing 3G & 4G services. Our assumption is that these will increase with arrival of 5G in these countries.

Source.