subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 13.73 (2019 est.)
total subscriptions: 490,103
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 5.38 (2019 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellular
total 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 users
total: 2,153,776
percent of population: 33.82% (July 2018 est.)
total: 2,853,505
percent of population: 31.7% (July 2018 est.)
Telecommunication systems
general 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 subscriptions
total: 492,265
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 8 (2018 est.)
total: 390,377
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 4.28 (2019 est.)
Broadcast media
multiple 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
