LTE growing but Wi-Fi still king at home, says Liberty Latin America

Liberty Latin America saw 50% year-on-year growth in penetration of LTE services in 3Q17, although this technology still only represents a third of its total subscriber base, and residential Wi-Fi continues to be the technology of choice in the home for families connecting multiple devices.

Speaking during a conference call with investors, Liberty Latin America CEO Balan Nair said: "Fixed broadband will always be faster and more reliable for connecting multiple devices. It's the best way to get broadband.

"As we increase LTE penetration we will see more broadband connectivity outside the home. However, we're still seeing people using mostly Wi-Fi," Nair said.

The company said that Chilean unit VTR and the Puerto Rico operation led revenue growth, while the Cable & Wireless Caribbean and Central American unit saw modest gains.

Overall revenues rose 3% year-on-year to US$925mn in 3Q17, but the company posted a net loss of US$26mn in the quarter.

VTR

VTR saw 1.5% growth in revenues to US$246mn, driven by gains in cable TV and broadband, which were offset partially by fixed-line voice attrition. Broadband speeds of over 400Mbps are deployed to over 60% of VTR's broadband subscribers.

Though small, the company's MVNO mobile business added 10,000 subscribers in Q3 for a total of 246,000 subscribers.

Speaking during the call, VTR CEO Guillermo Ponce said a stable Chilean economy bodes well for the company in 2019.

LIBERTY PUERTO RICO

Liberty Puerto Rico's revenues rose 12.4% to US$99.6mn, helped by US$11mn in funding from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to rebuild infrastructure damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

Liberty added 22,000 revenue generating units (RGU), doubling the additions seen in 2Q18.

CWC

Cable & Wireless reported a 0.4% rise in revenues in the quarter to US$581mn, adding some 17,000 RGUs. Broadband additions were driven by Jamaica and Panama. The Wi-Fi Connect Box is delivering enhanced in-home connectivity and is installed across 30% of CWC's broadband base.

Mobile subscribers declined by 47,000 in Q3, almost half of which were in Panama, where the market is highly competitive with four players.

The company is due to face heightened competition from Millicom, which in October acquired an 80% stake in leading fixed telecommunications and cable TV operator Cable Onda.

In the same month, Liberty Latin America also acquired an 80% stake in Costa Rican cable TV operator Cabletica, thus upping the ante with Millicom in that market.