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El Salvador vs. Honduras

Telecommunications

El SalvadorHonduras
Telephones - main lines in usetotal subscriptions: 882,498

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 13.73 (2019 est.)
total subscriptions: 490,103

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 5.38 (2019 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellulartotal subscriptions: 9,442,667

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 146.91 (2019 est.)
total subscriptions: 7,559,829

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 82.92 (2019 est.)
Internet country code.sv.hn
Internet userstotal: 2,153,776

percent of population: 33.82% (July 2018 est.)
total: 2,853,505

percent of population: 31.7% (July 2018 est.)
Telecommunication systemsgeneral assessment:

El Salvador's telecom sector is challenged by low population, poor infrastructure, and unequal income distribution compounded by corruption and criminal influence; liberal regulation promotes mobile penetration in replacement of fixed-line density; operators testing 5G in 2020 (2020)

(2020)

domestic: growth in fixed-line services 14 per 100, has slowed in the face of mobile-cellular competition at 147 per 100 (2019)

international: country code - 503; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System (2019)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

general assessment:

among the poorest countries in Central America, Honduras has a neglected telecom sector complicated by political stalemate and geographic challenges; mobile subscribership is growing; DSL and cable Internet available in urban areas but expensive; government proposed ICT master plan to boost e-government and business, including free Internet to households; US based network ready to deploy 5G (2021)

(2020)

domestic: private sub-operators allowed to provide fixed lines in order to expand telephone coverage contributing to a small increase in fixed-line teledensity 5 per 100; mobile-cellular subscribership is roughly 73 per 100 persons (2019)

international: country code - 504; landing points for both the ARCOS and the MAYA-1 fiber-optic submarine cable systems that together provide connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System (2019)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

Broadband - fixed subscriptionstotal: 492,265

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 8 (2018 est.)
total: 390,377

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 4.28 (2019 est.)
Broadcast mediamultiple privately owned national terrestrial TV networks, supplemented by cable TV networks that carry international channels; hundreds of commercial radio broadcast stations and 1 government-owned radio broadcast station; transition to digital transmission to begin in 2018 along with adaptation of the Japanese-Brazilian Digital Standard (ISDB-T)multiple privately owned terrestrial TV networks, supplemented by multiple cable TV networks; Radio Honduras is the lone government-owned radio network; roughly 300 privately owned radio stations

Source: CIA Factbook