Puerto Rico: As the voice telephony market shrinks, operators are expecting to double data revenues, despite the recession

[PRNewswire] With the voice market shrinking, telecom operators face an opportunity to expand data services in Puerto Rico, as data revenue is expected to more than double by 2014 despite the deep economic contraction, according to the latest report from Pyramid Research, the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network.

Communications Markets in Puerto Rico offers a precise profile of the country's converged telecommunications, media, and technology sectors based on proprietary data from our research in the Puerto Rican market. The 28-page report provides detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services, and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies such as WiMax, IPTV, and VoIP. The executive study provides a comprehensive view of the Puerto Rican communications market by analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing upcoming risk factors.

Despite the deep economic contraction that Puerto Rico is facing, we see interesting opportunities in mobile data services, mobile content, and prepaid fixed services, notes Jose Magana, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. "Several years of economic contraction and operators focusing on the more lucrative postpaid segment have constrained subscription's growth, but Pyramid expects penetration to advance to 84 percent by 2014," says Magana.

The recent incursion of big telecom operators, such as AT&T and T-Mobile, looking to expand beyond the U.S. in the mobile market may also put additional pressure on tariffs but will spur offerings in data services, such as mobile Internet and infotainment content. "Pyramid forecasts infotainment content to gain share in the total data market at the expense of messaging while connectivity revenue grows thanks to uptake in mobile Internet and datacards," says Magana. "Data as a percentage of ARPS will advance to more than 30 percent by 2014 from 18 percent in 2009," he adds.

In the fixed segment, Pyramid expects broadband to expand at a CAGR of 16.7 percent to generate $390 million by 2014. "Broadband will also encourage subscribers to migrate to cheaper VoIP plans and will hasten a decline in PSTN lines," Magana explains.

Puerto Rico's Telecom Market to Double its Data Revenue by 2014 despite Economic Contraction, finds Pyramid
See also an excerpt of this report