Cell phone use in the DR has boomed. In 1996, only 1 in every 100 people owned a cell phone. Only eight years later, however, this statistic has increased to 27 out of every 100. This means that cell phone sales represented 82,500 in 1996, a number which catapulted to 2.3 million as of March 2004. According to a report in El Caribe, 2001 was the year that made the difference, when 1,270,082 wireless units were purchased by consumers, causing the number of cell phone users to surpass that of fixed lines at 955,145 units. From that year forward, the propensity for land lines has diminished, having gone from 11.8% of the population to 10.4% of the population in 2004. Interestingly, in 2002 and 2003 there were negative growth rates of ?4.8% and 0.8% for the traditional wired lines. Growth in the first quarter of this year is at 0.6%.
El Caribe’s report states that the numbers clearly show a preference for wireless units in regards to the installation of residential lines. Nevertheless, it points out that the peak may have been reached, as there is a deceleration in the growth of new wireless users. The newspaper speculates that this trend could be associated to the curbed buying power of the Dominican population and the increase in the cost of the service.
Currently in the Dominican Republic, 76% of cell phone users prefer the pre-paid cell phone arrangements over contracted service. According to Manuel E Bonilla of Verizon, pre-paid mobile plans are the most profitable for the telephone companies. He said their challenge is to retain these clients by offering them new services, products and offers to replace their equipments.