Between 2012 and 2017, telecoms retail revenue in Latin America will grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 3.3 per cent, according to research by Analysys Mason.

During the period, mobile services will account for around 80 per cent of this growth, with mobile broadband (at a CAGR of 15.8 per cent) and mobile data (12.6 per cent) being the biggest contributors to growth.

“The relative value of the Latin American telecoms market is increasing as a result of higher revenue growth compared to developed markets,” said Pablo Iacopino, lead analyst for Analysys Mason’s Global Telecoms Forecasts research programme. “Brazil is the largest telecoms market in LatAm in terms of telecoms retail revenue, generating $62bn in 2012, and is the fourth-largest market in the world after the USA, China and Japan.”

The number of active mobile connections is set to increase from 672m connections in 2012 to 830m by the end of 2017, 31 per cent higher than the regions projected population.

By 2017, 50 per cent of handsets in the region will be smartphones.