Despite registering an increase in access to mobile customers, Telefónica lost some space in its markets, except Chile and Venezuela.
In Spain, Telefónica highlights the increase in Internet of Things (IoT) access, which grew by 19.1% in 2023.
In November 2023, the Government of Ecuador signed the temporary extension of the concession contract for Otecel, a subsidiary of the multinational Telefónica that operates the Movistar brand; but the figures for the telecommunications company are not going well.
Telefónica lost mobile market share in 2023 in all the countries where it operates except Chile and Venezuela, despite registering an increase in accesses to (mobile) customers by 2.2%, compared to 2022, up to 298.6 million.
According to the data included by the company in its consolidated annual report, the market decline has been slight in its four main markets, including Spain, where it went from the 27.5% share it had in 2022 to 27.3% of the 2023.
In the United Kingdom, accesses to mobile clients have fallen from 29.6% to 28.9%; in Germany from 34.2% to 32.9%; and in Brazil, from 38.9% to 38.7%.
Telefónica in Latin America
Its share has also fallen in Argentina, from 28.5% to 28.2%; in Peru, from 29 to 27.1%; in Colombia, from 25.6% to 24.8%; in Mexico, from 18.3% to 18.2%; in Ecuador, from 31.4% to 30.1%, and in Uruguay, from 27.8% to 24.6%.
However, its market share has grown in Chile, from 25.5% to 27%; and in Venezuela from 53.3% to 53.9%, according to the operator’s estimates.
These estimates occur in a context in which Telefónica has gone from 292.17 million mobile accesses in 2022 to 298.57 in 2023, which represents a growth of 2.2%, which is mainly due to the growth in Telefónica Hispam and contract accesses in Telefónica Brasil.
Telefónica’s balance
The weight of contract accesses represents 50.5% of the group’s mobile accesses, excluding Internet of Things accesses.
The company’s total accesses in the world are 383.8 million, 1.2% more than last year.
The growth of fiber to the home stands out, which rose 13%, from 14.28 million to 16.12.
Telefónica has avoided entering into evaluations in this regard after being asked by EFE.
Despite losing market share, for example, in its four main markets it has gained mobile access to customers.
Thus, in Spain these grew by 4% in 2023, to 20.12 million as a result mainly of the increase in Internet of Things (IoT) accesses, which grew by 19.1%.
Contract customers also grew, 1.3% year-on-year, while prepaid customers fell, up to 11.4%.
In the United Kingdom, where it has a half company with Liberty, VMO2, accesses also grew by 4.1 to 35.22 million, also driven mainly by IoT accesses, which grew by 17.4%.
In Germany, the operator’s mobile accesses grew by 1.7%, to 45.1 million, driven by contract customers, especially of the O2 brand; while in Brazil accesses also rose 1.1%, to 99.07 million driven by contract customers, which increased 4.4% year-on-year and reached 45.9 million.
In these four markets, Telefónica’s main ones, its prepaid mobile contract customers fell.
Broadband grows
Regarding fixed broadband accesses, these stand at 26.8 million as of December 2023, with a growth of 1.8% year-on-year.
Fiber accesses (FTTH) as of December 31, 2023 stood at 16.1 million, which represented a growth of 13% compared to last year.
Regarding market shares in this segment, it loses in Spain, from 34% to 32.8%; in Brazil, from 14.6 to 14.2%; and in Peru, from 55.1% to 43.8%.
It remains in Chile, with 31.5%; while it wins in Argentina (from 11.3 to 11.5%) and in Colombia, from 15.1% to 16.2%.
