Cable & Wireless Panama is the market leader in mobile, fixed line and broadband in this growing country of 3.5 million people. We are also a major provider of services to companies and governments. Our new pay TV service can be bundled with broadband and fixed line services, providing a triple play offer for customers.

Highlights

• Maintained mobile market share above 50%
• Achieved 16% market share for pay TV
• 69% of postpaid customers now using mobile data
• Enterprise revenue increased by 10%
• Enterprise and social telecoms projects continue to drive growth

Performance

Our Panama business, which trades as Cable & Wireless Panama, competed strongly in 2010/11, maintaining market leadership in mobile, fixed line and broadband, expanding our pay TV business and further broadening our social telecoms (telecoms-enabled public services) platform.

Despite intense mobile competition, our +Movil business held market share above 50%. Mobile revenue grew, supported by increased data revenue. In particular, prepaid customers embraced initiatives such as new mobile data plans. Two-thirds of postpaid customers now use mobile data.

Our pay TV business, branded +TV Digital, grew to 44,200 customers, a 16% market share – an excellent achievement given it launched in December 2009. A third of subscribers now have a triple play package, including broadband and fixed voice.

We launched a fibre broadband service last year, increasing the maximum download speed available in parts of the country up to 25 megabits per second (Mbps).

Another strong area of growth was in the provision of services for enterprises, with revenue increasing by 10% after a slower year in 2009/10.

We remain a leader in providing social telecoms and signed a contract last year to help modernise the technology used in Panama’s court system in Coclé province.

Outlook

Panama’s economy continues to grow rapidly with GDP increasing at a rate of 7.5% in 2010. It is expected to continue growing strongly for the next five years as the country increases its drive to be the region’s business and travel hub exploiting the Panama Canal’s position as a centre of commerce and services.

Panama has vigorous competition in both mobile and fixed telecoms. Mobile competition is expected to remain challenging next year with the possible introduction of mobile number portability. However, the growth of mobile data in 2010/11 points to strong potential for further growth in 2011/12. We expect customers to continue signing up for smartphones and data plans.

We will continue extending our pay TV network focusing on reaching more districts of Panama City and key locations nationwide.

Our social telecoms services will continue to be an important driver of growth. We have recently been selected to provide El Salvador’s police service with a 911 emergency response system, our first opportunity to roll out the platform we use in Panama to another market.