BellSouth/Telefonica Take Top Enterprise Market Share and Satisfaction Among Colombian Businesses, Says Yankee Group; Fixed and mobile voice spending claim 30% of budgets.

BOSTON -- According to the Yankee Group 2004 Latin America Enterprise Communications Survey, 51% of Colombian enterprises anticipate telecom/IT budget increases in 2005 ranging from 6% to 18%. The number-one priority in Colombia is network security, reflecting continued concerns about virus and hacker attacks and the usual Colombian security preoccupations. Reducing telephony costs ranks second, since on average, approximately 30% of monthly telecom/IT spending goes toward fixed and mobile telephony services. However, when selecting providers, enterprises regard service quality and customer support more than price, showing that telecom and IT are mission-critical applications.

On average, 21% of the enterprise workforces are mobile users, although this figure varies substantially between vertical segments. About 87% of the enterprises have corporate mobile contracts, and in 64% of these companies, the company picks the handset; therefore, vendors and mobile operators should join forces on corporate accounts. BellSouth is the corporate leader, but OLA is already close to Comcel in market share of companies. "The key for mobile is price: OLA leads in price perception by far, but is ranked at the bottom for three of the remaining five customer perception factors in the survey. A strong showing by Avantel, especially in Bogota, shows the potential for push-to-talk over cellular service offerings," says Wally Swain, Yankee Group Latin America principal analyst.

The Yankee Group 2004 Latin America Enterprise Communications Survey fielded in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia was designed to help telecommunications carriers, wireless service providers, equipment vendors, systems integrators and enterprise application vendors understand demand trends for wireless and wireline services, as well as purchasing behavior of large (500-plus employees) businesses.

PRESS CONTACT

For interviews, contact Wally Swain, [e-mail]

THE YANKEE GROUP (http://www.yankeegroup.com)

The Yankee Group is the global leader in communications & networking research and consulting. The company helps businesses understand the opportunities, risks and competitive pressures of developing, deploying and consuming products and services that drive communication or information exchange. Now in its fourth decade, the Yankee Group is based in Boston with offices throughout North America and Europe.