A 2020 update of our mobile/cellular spend Snapshot, to determine the extent to which mobile/cellular calling rates have changed across the Caribbean since our 2019 exercise.

 

As have been doing over the past nine years, we are revisit the monthly spend for mobile/cellular services in the Caribbean, based on pre-defined baskets of services. Similar to 2019, and in this our latest exercise, we have recorded the standalone prepaid calling rates in 23 Caribbean countries, and thereafter, examined the extent to which they have changed since our last exercise, the results of which were published in May 2019.

 

Methodology

For our review of the monthly spend for mobile/cellular service in the Caribbean, we continue to use the approach presented in the Revised OECD Telecommunications Price Comparison Methodology (2006), with adjustments. The original methodology sets out three service baskets, which suggest the volume of voice calls, text messages (SMS), and multimedia messages (MMS) generated by hypothetical users. However, cognisant that to a considerable degree, instant messaging has replaced SMS and MMS, we have limited use of the OECD methodology to focus on voice calls only (see Table 1).

Table 1: Service baskets used in 2020 mobile/cellular spend calculations (Source: OECD)

Additionally, and to facilitate comparison, we have again limited our review and calculations to the prepaid calling rates advertised by the two largest mobile/cellular operators per country, where possible – and for which data is available. In countries where there is still a monopoly in the market, the rates of the incumbent operator were used. Table 2 lists the mobile/cellular operators included in this assessment. The rates used were sourced from the operators’ websites in June 2020.

Table 2: Telecoms operators included in 2020 mobile/cellular spend snapshot (Source: ICT Pulse)

The monthly spend on voice calls, based the service baskets in Table 1, was calculated in the local currency and then converted to United States Dollars (USD), using currency exchange rates as at 25 June 2020.

 

2020 monthly spend results

Using the mobile/cellular calls volumes stated for the three baskets of usage, first we compared the hypothetical monthly spend on mobile/cellular calls only, i.e. calls made on the same network; calls made to other mobile/cellular networks and calls made to the fixed network. Figure 1 shows the results.

Figure 1: Estimated monthly spend on mobile/cellular calls in select Caribbean countries as at June 2020 (Source: ICT Pulse)

For all call volumes, the lowest monthly spends on calls only, as of June 2019, was in Haiti, where the amounts ranged from USD 2.39 per month for Low Volume (LV) users, USD 6.14 per month for a Medium Volume (MV) users, to USD 13.39 per month for High Volume (HV) users. On the other hand, the highest monthly spend across all baskets was recorded in the Aruba, where amounts ranged from USD 21.21 to USD 118.61 per month. Additionally, for mobile/cellular calls only across the region, on average:

  • LV users would spend approximately USD 74 per month
  • MV users would spend approximately USD 17 per month
  • HV users would spend approximately USD 10 per month.

 

How do this year’s results compare with those for 2019?

Over the past year, and based on the rates recorded, there have been some noticeable changes in the monthly spend for mobile/cellular voice calls across the countries examined, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Percentage change in the monthly spends between 2019 and 2020 in select Caribbean countries (Source ICT Pulse)

Eight out of the 23 countries examined experienced some change in their prepaid rates, although for six of them, the change can be considered relatively minor – less than 10%. The exception was Jamaica, which recorded the greatest increase, of approximately 28% across all the calling baskets. On the other hand, the greatest decrease in mobile spends was recorded in Trinidad and Tobago,  where a 5.9% drop in the spend was recorded for each calling baskets.

 

Final thoughts…

Over the period under review, and on average, mobile/cellular calling rates have increased slightly, by approximately 5.4%, across the Caribbean region as a whole. This relatively small change could be due to inflationary and exchange rate adjustments in some countries, which will occur from time to time when necessary.

However, it was somewhat surprising that the rates in most countries had remained unchanged since the last reporting period. Further, where changes had been occurred, they were not substantial. One of many factors that is believed to have contributed to the current posture with regard to mobile/cellular calling rates is the fact that competition in that segment has lessened over the past few years. The new/current battleground is the mobile data space, where the carriers have developed a broad range of plans at varying price points, in order to encourage take-up.

Another factor could be COVID-19, also known as the Novel Coronavirus. Thanks to COVID-19, and the self-isolation measures that had been instituted over the past few months, individuals and organisation have been relying, to a considerable degree, on the Internet. With the substantial increase in Internet traffic that most Caribbean carriers experienced, and ensuring that those networks were operational, it may not have been possible – or prudent – for them to spend the time and resources on adjusting mobile/cellular calling rates. However, that situation can always change, most likely in the latter half of this year, as the carriers evaluate the state of their business, and determine how best to balance cost and revenue.

 

 

Image credit:  401(K) 2012 (flickr) 

————-