The telecommunications sector is characterized by being a strategic and transversal sector with implications in other sectors of the economy. Aware of this reality, Honduras, unlike other countries in the region, decided to create a specific Telecommunications Cabinet. Among the main objectives of the Cabinet is the development of the country's digital strategy, in coordination with the development of regulatory policies aimed at favoring the increase in the penetration of this sector in society and in the different sectors of the economy.

The creation of this Cabinet and the development of a transversal agenda has as its main guarantee to be formed by various Ministries where Telecommunications could promote specific projects in their respective areas. Thus, the following are part of the Cabinet:

- Ministry of the Presidency

- Ministry of Security and Defense

- Ministry of Finance - Technical Secretariat for Planning and Technical Cooperation (SEPLAN)

However, as developed later in the section, the participation of the Regulatory Authority, the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), which will ultimately be the entity responsible for executing the regulatory policies defined by the aforementioned Cabinet, would also be recommended.

The situation of the telecommunications sector in Honduras is characterized by an unbeatable starting point from the political point of view:

• The importance of the telecom sector for the productivity, competitiveness and economic development of the country is recognized; 
• High-level measures are taken to develop concrete Strategic Plans and projects in education, health, defense, and e-government, among other sectors.

Telecommunications regulation

Telecommunications in Honduras must be developed under a free market regime, in which several companies coexist striving to provide various services, increasingly of better quality and under permanently more competitive rates, which ultimately benefit the user.

Taking into account the Framework Law of the Telecommunications Sector in force, which basically regulates public telecommunications services, classifying them into: Carrier services; final services, which include basic services and complementary services; value-added services and radiocommunication and broadcasting services. To make such regulation possible, the Law has established a regime of concessions, licenses, permits and registrations, which in sum constitutes a model of regulation predominantly ex-ante of the telecommunications market.

Existing humanitarian telecommunications systems

Hispasat, the Spanish satellite telecommunications operator, provides a free connectivity and teleeducation service to 15 schools and rural communities in Honduras.

The service is part of a Public-Private Alliance agreed within the framework of the humanitarian aid that Spain has allocated to Honduras, to "alleviate the devastation" caused by tropical storms Eta and Iota, in November, Hispasat said in a statement released by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

The Spanish operator provided the necessary equipment for the deployment of 15 Wi-Fi satellite points in Honduras, as well as a "tele-education solution" that allows downloading and registering informative content on local servers so that students can access them efficiently.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

The availability of secure internet servers per million inhabitants is among the lowest in the region. These servers are those that use encryption technology to make transactions on the web, which is important to have greater security when sending and receiving digital information through the Internet network. The fewer secure servers there are in the country, the more vulnerable the information is to cyber attacks.

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)

It is evident the growth in the use of mobile internet service compared to the rest of the services, promoted by access to platforms that allow the transport of voice and data, in particular text messages, however, it is still limited in the country, and its coverage still has much potential for improvement mainly in the interior of the country.

The mobile internet market has very low penetration levels, lower than the average for the region, despite the increase in data traffic observed in the country, being one of the lowest in Latin America. This shows the need to develop the mobile data market.

It has been observed in  the situation of the coverage of Mobile Telephony networks at the national level: For 2G technology a geographical coverage of 100% of the municipal capitals of Honduras, and a coverage of the population of 89.03%.

For information on MNOs, visit the GSM Association website.