Overview

The telecommunications sector has been experiencing an increase in mobile phone services and broadband connections while landline phone service coverage has declined over the last years, as users have been replacing landline phone services with mobile services. There are 132 mobile phone subscribers for every 100 inhabitants, which indicates that each Colombian has on average more than one SIM card. In addition, there are 51.3% mobile internet subscribers for every 100 inhabitants and 13.8% have broadband internet services. Internet coverage in the country is 52% in urban areas and 7% in rural areas, which according to the study conducted by the Open Technology Institute, broadband speed in Colombia is ranked 114th at an average speed of 3.25 Mbps.

https://www.cable.co.uk/broadband/

https://datos.bancomundial.org/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2?end=2019&start=2019&view=bar

The main telecommunications providers in the Colombian market for services demanded by companies and households (phone, television and internet) are represented by Claro with 46.9%, Telefónica Movistar with 24.3%, Tigo-Une with 17.6% and ETB with 0.6%. Regarding mobile phone services, Claro also leads with 36.8%, Tigo-Une with 20.4% and Telefónica Movistar has 14.3% of the country's mobile phone subscribers.

(*) Claro, Movistar and Tigo Une currently have nationwide coverage.

Telecommunication Regulations

The Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies is responsible for telecommunications in Colombia regulated by the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce and the Communications Regulatory Commission. Article 33 of Law 80 of 1993 defined telecommunications services as those provided by legal entities, either public or private companies, to meet specific telecommunications needs of third parties within the national territory or abroad. Mobile phone and personal communication services are regulated by Law 37 of 1993 and Law 555 of 2000. Basic public switched local and extended local telephone networks and rural mobile telephone services are regulated by Law 142 of 1994.

https://www.mintic.gov.co/portal/inicio/ 

Emergency telecommunications are regulated by Resolution 4972 of 2016(*) in which guidelines and obligations are established to this end. According to the provisions of Section 14 of Decree 2434 of 2015(**), the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MinTIC), and the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management Unit (UNGRD) are responsible for defining guidelines and requirements for the National Emergency Telecommunications Plan supported by the National Spectrum Agency and the Communications Regulation Commission within the limits of their competencies.

(**) https://www.crcom.gov.co/resoluciones/00005062.pdf

(*) https://www.mintic.gov.co/portal/604/articles-14372_decreto1.pdf

Telecommunications play a key role in emergency and disaster situations. Therefore, current industry regulations have addressed matters covered in Law 1341 of 2009, Decree 2434 of 2015 and the Communications Regulatory Commission Resolution 3066.

Existing Humanitarian Telecoms Systems

The United Nations System (UNS) in Colombia has 46 VHF repeaters in operation at a frequency of 96 MHz. HF network in Colombia uses 6 frequencies. United Nations Agencies use these communication networks with the support of UNDSS.

The government's UNGRD (National Unit for Disaster Risk Management) uses state-of-the-art radio communications and connectivity equipment and early warning systems, among other tools, to ensure quality, effectiveness and optimal coverage.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

The ISP Speed Index, which reveals the best internet service providers in the country, is led by ETB with a speed of 2.80 Mbps, followed by Claro with 2.73 Mbps in second place and UNE EPM Telecomunicaciones with 2.61 Mbps in third place. As for satellite internet, leading companies in the market are: BANSAT, Skynet de Colombia, Tughesnet, Axesat. All these companies provide internet, data, voice and video streaming services.

According to data reported by DANE, 99.6% of manufacturing and trading businesses in Colombia use the internet in their daily work, but only 73% have a website. On average, 68% of internet connections are by fiber optics or a dedicated channel, 25% by wireless connection, 19% by high-capacity information transmisssion, affecting transmission speed, and 5.9% by ADSL. 99% of the service sector companies use the internet, 95% have a website and 98.7% of these companies use a local area network (LAN).

https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/boletines/tic/bol_empresas_2018.pdf

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)

Mobile internet access is available on a subscription and on-demand basis. Subscription refers to customers with a fixed monthly fee for internet access services, while on-demand refers to any type of internet access service where no fixed monthly fee is paid.

Coverage in towns and roads is supported by GSM, 3G and 4G technologies providing voice, data and internet services. These three carriers have the largest number of mobile internet subscribers: Claro leads with 87% of customers, Movistar with 34% and Tigo Une with 22%, while the other 6% is shared with Uff, Virgin, Éxito and ETB mobile virtual network operators.

For more information, please check this website: GSM Association website

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