Hondutel faces shrinking subscriber base

State-run telco Hondutel reported having 379,000 subscribers in the first quarter of this year, down 11% from the 426,000 clients recorded a year earlier.

Fixed telephony accounted for 90.5% of Hondutel's subscriber base, while mobile telephony and broadband services amounted to 3.3% and 6.2% respectively.

The telco added 6,340 subscriptions in the quarter, 2,930 of which correspond to the telephony segment. This represents 19.6% of the 15,000 new subscribers the company expects to incorporate this year, according to local newspapers.

Broadband subscribers, both corporate and residential, grew by 3,410 in the quarter. The telco seeks to reach 35,000 broadband subscribers by the end of this year, as the number currently approaches 25,000.

Hondutel has been struggling with its finances for some time now, and its public debt hit 2bn lempiras (US$85.3mn) in February. The telco recently announced investments of 130 lempiras (US$5.54mn) in technology to expand its customer base and thus its revenue stream.

In the mobile segment, Hondutel had a market participation of 1% at the end of last year, preceded by Millicom's Tigo with 58% and América Móvil's Claro with 41%. The entry of a fourth mobile operator could be detrimental to Hondutel's already fragile position.