Bundled Internet and Telecom Services Trending Upwards in Colombia

A new report from Colombia’s Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) indicates that fixed internet and bundled service packages were the dominant trends in the nation’s fixed telecommunications sector during the fourth quarter of 2024. The data shows continued growth in internet connections and revenue, contrasted by a decline in subscribers and income for subscription television.

According to the regulator’s Data Flash report, Colombia’s fixed services market, which includes internet, telephony, and television, reached 10.8 million total connections, with 88.1% belonging to residential customers.

The preference for bundled services, or “paquetes,” continued to grow. As of December 2024, triple-play bundles (internet, phone, and TV) accounted for 40.9% of all connections, an increase of 0.9 percentage points compared to the end of 2023. Double-play packages represented another 17.2% of the market, with the combination of telephony and internet being the most common, totaling over 1.15 million connections. Stand-alone, single-service contracts accounted for the remaining 41.9% of accesses, growing 1.85% over the previous year.

Total revenue from fixed services during the fourth quarter of 2024 reached $3.12 trillion COP, a 1.4% increase compared to the same period in 2023. The average monthly revenue per user stood at $96,142 COP. This growth was driven almost entirely by fixed internet services, which saw revenues climb by 9.14%. In contrast, revenue from the subscription television segment fell by 8.9%.

Diving deeper into the data, the number of fixed internet connections rose by 2.27% to a total of 9.09 million. This equates to a national household penetration rate of 44.4 connections for every 100 homes. The report also noted a significant increase in connection speeds, with the national average reaching 382.3 Mbps for downloads and 235.1 Mbps for uploads.

The television market moved in the opposite direction. Total pay-TV connections (including subscription and community-based services) reached 6.2 million. Of those, 6.1 million were for subscription television, a segment that saw its subscriber base shrink by 1.34% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

Claudia Ximena Bustamante, commissioner and executive director of the CRC, stated that the report is a result of the commission’s ongoing monitoring of ICT markets and serves as an informational tool for public and private entities. She affirmed that the CRC’s objective is to continue promoting conditions that ensure quality, affordable, and widespread service coverage for citizens, noting the importance of fixed internet as a growth engine for the sector.

Internet access. Photo credit: OleksandrPidvalnyi from Pixabay.