The purchase of Verizon Dominicana by America Movil of Mexico is going to heat up the cell phone business in the Dominican Republic, according to a report in today’s Hoy.
The mobile phone business is the largest component of the telephone business in the DR according to the Dominican Institute for Telecommunications (INDOTEL). According to a survey commissioned by INDOTEL early in 2005, 63.4% of all phones were cell phones. The market was dominated at that time by Verizon with 63.7% of the market, followed by Orange with 25.1%, Tricom with 5.7% and Centennial with 5.5%.
What the buyout of Verizon means is not yet totally clear, but what is clear is that land lines and home phones are not the main interest of America Movil anywhere in Latin America, and Verizon Dominicana has 88% of the landline telephones in the Dominican Republic, as well as 84% of Internet users.
This data is also from the 2005 Gallup survey contracted by INDOTEL.