Conatel reports end-year fixed, mobile, internet totals

Venezuelan regulator Conatel has reported that the country’s fixed lines in service reached 6.303 million at the end of 2008, translating to a teledensity of 22.6%, up from 18.5% (5.195 million lines) at end-2007. The watchdog said that mobile subscriptions stood at 27.084 million at end-December, giving a cellular penetration of 97.2%, up from 86.8% (23.820 million mobile phones) a year earlier. In the internet access sector, Conatel presented figures showing that broadband subscribers increased by 55% year-on-year in 2008 to 1.330 million, whereas the remaining number of dial-up accounts – 143,000 – hardly changed over the year.