During the first quarter of 2022, the telecommunications sector, which is made up of the mobile, fixed and pay television segments, obtained total revenues of 129 million pesos, which means a growth of 3.4% compared to 124.8 million pesos. pesos reported in the same period last year.
Carlos Roberto Hernández, an analyst at The Ciu consulting firm, specified that in a disaggregated manner, the internet and mobile telephony segment was the one that most boosted telecommunications, concentrating 57% of revenues, while pay television contributed 25.2 %, while the internet and fixed telephony 17.5%.
The specialist predicts that the telecommunications industry will grow up to 5.2% at the end of 2022, however, the behavior of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) due to inflation , which registered a level of 7.68% in April -the highest since January 2001 – and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine -which has intensified the shortage of the semiconductors necessary to manufacture antennas, computers and smartphones- could moderate this scenario to 3.6%.
The effects of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, according to a specialist from The Ciu consulting firm, will begin to materialize in the second quarter of this year.
He noted that inflation has impacted the cost of several products such as those of the basic basket, however, the increases in telecommunications services have remained below inflation.
“The GDP forecast for 2022 is the one that worries us because it had an ascending rate, however the predictions fall when the year begins due to high inflation and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and now it is expected to grow 1.72%”, said Hernández during the presentation of the results of the first quarter of the telecommunications sector “Given the strong relationship that exists between economic activity and that of the telecommunications sector, we had to lower the growth estimate for the industry,” he added.
The growth expectations of the telecommunications industry are in line with the forecasts of the rating agency Moody’s, who estimates that the sector in Latin America will have a greater operating flow and that its income will grow again towards 2023.
Although the rating agency warned that inflation and competition are risk factors for growth in the income of telecommunications operators in Latin America this year, due to new inflationary pressures due to the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, including the possible interruption in Supply Chain.
Start the year off on the right foot
In the first three months of the year , América Móvil reported a net profit of 30,797 million pesos, a considerable increase compared to 1,810 million pesos in the same period of 2021 and estimates to invest during this year 8,000 million pesos for its 5G network, which launched last February.
In the same period, AT&T reported the highest operating flow for any quarter since it has operated in the country, obtaining an EBITDA of 59 million dollars, which meant that its operating flow increased fivefold, compared to the 11 million dollars registered in the same period last year, it was also $23 million better than the previous quarter.
In April, WarnerMedia, part of the AT&T telecommunications group, managed to merge with Discovery to create a new streaming company.
Grupo Televisa reported a net profit of 52,642.1 million pesos at the end of the first quarter of 2022, a considerable growth when compared to the losses of 584.4 million pesos registered in the first quarter of 2021. The telecommunications company achieved approval by part of the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT) to merge with Univisión and thus create ViX, a streaming platform aimed at the Spanish-speaking public.
