Cuba had a population of 11.3mn people and 2.6mn mobile subscriptions at the end of 20141, giving a mobile penetration of 23% – a very low level of penetration compared to other markets in the Americas and worldwide. Even a relatively undeveloped market like Haiti has penetration of 75%. 96% of mobile subscribers in Cuba had a pre-paid account. The low historic penetration stems from factors such as the lack of competition and the high cost of mobile ownership compared to income levels. There is a single Mobile Network Operator (MNO) serving the Cuban market – ETECSA (Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A.) with 2.6m subscribers. According to Telegeography, ETECSA is wholly owned by the Cuban government via six state entities: Telefonica Antillana (51%), Rafin (27%), Banco Financiero Internacional (6.2%), Universal Trade & Management Corporation (11.1%), Banco Internacional de Comercio (0.9%) and Negocios en Telecomunicaciones (3.8%). Local financial services entity Rafin bought its 27% stake in January 2011 from Telecom Italia for US$706mn.
Mott MacDonald,
June 26, 2015
