Millicom Expands Mobile and Internet Services Across Latin America

Millicom has been expanding its mobile and internet services across Latin America, making a significant impact on the region's telecommunications landscape. The company has a strong presence in several countries, including Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay.

In Bolivia, Millicom has been working to improve its mobile network, investing in new infrastructure to enhance coverage and quality. This effort has paid off, with the company now offering 4G services to over 70% of the population.

Millicom's commitment to expanding its services has also led to the launch of new mobile and internet packages, catering to the diverse needs of its customers. These packages offer a range of options, from basic voice and data plans to more advanced bundles with high-speed internet and TV.

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Millicom operates in nine countries across Latin America, including Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Paraguay.

In Guatemala, Millicom has a 100% equity interest in the operation, acquired in 2021 for $2.2 billion. The Tigo brand launched in 2004 and is the country's largest mobile operator with over 9 million customers and a 53.4% market share.

Tigo Guatemala also provides mobile financial services through Tigo Money, as well as broadband, cable, and business services. In Honduras, Tigo is the leading mobile service provider with an estimated 4.8 million customers and a 66% market share.

In Nicaragua, Millicom purchased Telefonía Celular de Nicaragua, S.A. in 2019, serving 3.5 million mobile subscribers as of 2020. Tigo Paraguay has become the market leader for pay TV and fixed broadband services since its launch in 2014.

Millicom also operates in Panama, where it acquired Cable Onda in 2018 and rebranded it as Tigo in 2020.

Guatemala has been a country of operation for Millicom since 1990.

The company owns a 100% equity interest in the operation, acquired from its local joint venture partner in a $2.2 billion deal in November 2021.

Tigo is the largest mobile operator in Guatemala, with over nine million customers and a market share of 53.4 percent.

Mobile penetration in Guatemala is estimated at 112 percent, according to GSMA (2017), while internet penetration is at 27 percent, as reported by the World Bank (2015).

Tigo Guatemala offers a range of services beyond mobile, including mobile financial services through Tigo Money, as well as broadband, cable, and business services.

Panamá is a key market for Millicom, with a significant presence in the country's telecommunications industry. In October 2018, Millicom acquired 80% of Cable Onda, a Panamanian cable TV provider and ISP, for $1460 million.

The acquisition marked a significant expansion of Millicom's operations in Panamá, allowing the company to offer a wider range of services to its customers. By 2020, Millicom had phased out the Cable Onda brand, replacing it with its Tigo brand.

In February 2019, Tigo announced the purchase of the Panamanian operations of the Spanish company Telefónica for $650 million. This acquisition gave Tigo a major boost in the Panamanian market, allowing it to expand its customer base and increase its market share.

Today, Millicom maintains operations across nine Latin American countries, including Panamá.

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Paraguay has been a key market for Millicom since 1992, with the company operating in the country for over three decades.

Millicom is currently the largest mobile operator in Paraguay, with 3.8 million subscribers from a population of 6.7 million, as of 2012.

Tigo Home has become the market leader for pay TV and fixed broadband services in Paraguay since its launch in 2014.

Tigo's mobile market share is a significant 56.4 percent, making it a dominant force in the country's mobile market.

Tigo Paraguay has exclusive rights to broadcast Paraguay's national league championship games through 2023, and also has exclusive sponsorship rights in telecommunications for the Paraguayan National Soccer Team through 2023.

Millicom's equity holding in Paraguay is 100 percent, indicating full ownership and control of its operations in the country.

Millicom's telco cloud infrastructure is designed to provide flexible delivery of mobile and Internet services across Latin American markets. This includes a consistent IP fabric both within data centers and across regions, which delivers agility, availability, performance, and scalability for its evolved packet core and other applications.

The company has standardized its data center IP fabric, allowing it to share skills from country to country, troubleshoot faster, and quickly translate business requirements. This standardization also enables Millicom to flexibly adjust to local requirements and reduce the time to market for new services.

Millicom's telco cloud leverages Juniper QFX10000 Switches and QFX5100 Switches for the IP/EVPN fabric, and a Juniper SDN controller simplifies traffic engineering and allows the operations team to strictly manage transport service-level agreements (SLAs) through automation and optimization.

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Millicom International Cellular, S.A. is a key player in the telecommunications industry.

They acquired Amnet in 2008 for $510 million, rebranding it as Tigo.

This acquisition expanded their services to include television, internet, and phone services in several countries, including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama.

In 2019, Telefónica sold its operations in Nicaragua and Panama to Millicom International for $1.65 billion.

However, the sale did not include Telefónica's operations in Costa Rica, which were later acquired by another operator.

Millicom, a leading telecommunications company, has made significant strides in delivering mobile and internet services across Latin America. With over 55 million mobile customers in nine markets, the company has established a strong presence in the region.

To support its rapid expansion, Millicom built a telco cloud infrastructure that enables flexible delivery of services. This infrastructure is built on a consistent IP fabric that provides agility, availability, performance, and scalability.

In 2008, Millicom acquired Amnet for $510 million, expanding its services to include television, internet, and phone services in several countries. The acquisition marked a significant milestone in the company's growth and expansion.

Millicom's telco cloud project aimed to create a standardized IP fabric that could be shared across regions, allowing for dynamic handling of increased customer demand. The project also considered data center interconnect, enabling any-to-any connectivity.

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Millicom continued to deploy its telco cloud infrastructure, leveraging innovative solutions from Juniper and NEC to standardize, simplify, and automate data center operations. The company's efforts paid off, with a significant increase in residential and mobile customers in 2021.

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