Telecommunication systems: general assessment: Ecuador’s remote and mountainous geography lends challenges to tele-density; government-owned provider to improve fixed-line and LTE infrastructure, with emphasis on fiber expansion from urban to rural areas and installation of a 5G network; small telecom market dominated by the non-competitive mobile sector; inadequate fixed-line infrastructure and slowed fixed-line broadband services (2021) (2020)
domestic: fixed-line services with digital networks provided by multiple telecommunications operators; fixed-line teledensity stands at about 13 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular use has surged and subscribership has reached 91 per 100 persons (2019)
international: country code - 593; landing points for the PAN-AM, PCCS, America Movil-Telxius West Coast Cable and SAm-1 submarine cables that provide links to South and Central America, and extending onward to the Caribbean and the US; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (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
Definition: This entry includes a brief general assessment of a country's telecommunications system with details on the domestic and international components. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry:
Source: CIA World Factbook - This page was last updated on Saturday, September 18, 2021
