With 112.4 million active lines – over 80% of which are pre-paid – Mexico’s mobile market has also experienced a continuing fall in prices, which has boosted consumption while average revenue per user (ARPU) remains nearly flat.
According to the figures from The CIU, mobile data use has grown by 69.3% between Q1 2016 and Q1 2017, and has more than doubled since 2015. Mexican mobile users now consume, on average, 528MB per month.
“Mexicans are increasingly demanding social media and instant messaging services, and mobile video consumption is growing. All three factors have driven mobile operators to focus on increasing capacity over their networks in order to provide users with more data and greater speed,” said analysts Radames Camargo and Fernando Esquivel, of The CIU.
In addition to data, SMS and voice services are also growing, though at a slower pace. And while service demand and consumption increases, competition and more affordable options are reducing profit margins for operators.
Following the report, ARPU was at $6.9 per month, 4.3% lower than the revenue reported in Q1 2016. Looking at the figures, ARPU has remained almost unchanged over the past two years.
“In this scenario, mobile service consumers are experiencing an improvement, as they’re getting more services for a lower price,” added the CIU. “This can also be seen as a pay-back after years of excessive market concentration and operator difficulties in reducing prices.”