Wireless: Latin Churn Remains High

BY CHRONICLE STAFF

Latin America has the worlds highest rate of churn among wireless subscribers, according to data for the first quarter from Strategy Analytics, a London-based market research firm.

The Latin American and Caribbean region had an average churn of 2.57 percent. That was higher than the global average of 2.52 percent. It was also above all other world regions, including the Middle East, which had higher churn than Latin America in the first quarter last year.

"As an emerging market with recent growth, its seeing focus on the pre-paid market and pre-paid in [general] is more volatile," says Phil Kendall, director of the global wireless practice of Strategy Analytics.

RISING CHURN

And the trend is likely to continue for some time, he predicts. "I think were set for churn to continue to rise," Kendall says.

Latin America is facing a peak in terms of growth — total net growth of...