Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MIC S.A.) provides cable and mobile services dedicated to emerging markets.
Through its main brands Tigo and Tigo Business, the company provides a wide range of digital services in nine countries in Latin America, including high-speed data, cable TV, direct-to-home satellite TV (DTH and when it refers to DTH together with cable TV, the company uses the term pay-TV), mobile voice, mobile data, SMS, MFS, fixed voice, and business solutions, including value-ad...
Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MIC S.A.) provides cable and mobile services dedicated to emerging markets.
Through its main brands Tigo and Tigo Business, the company provides a wide range of digital services in nine countries in Latin America, including high-speed data, cable TV, direct-to-home satellite TV (DTH and when it refers to DTH together with cable TV, the company uses the term pay-TV), mobile voice, mobile data, SMS, MFS, fixed voice, and business solutions, including value-added services (VAS). The company provides services on both a business-to-consumer (B2C) and a business-to-business (B2B) basis.
The company offers the following principal categories of services:
Mobile, including mobile data, mobile voice, and MFS to consumer, business and government customers;
Fixed and other services, including broadband, pay-TV, content, and fixed voice services for residential (Home) customers, as well as voice, data and VAS and solutions to business and government customers.
The company provides both mobile and cable services in eight countries: Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Paraguay. In addition, the company provides cable services in Costa Rica.
Additionally, the company has a large portfolio of infrastructure across Latin America and, including its Honduras joint venture, its portfolio includes approximately 9,300 towers, 12 Tier III data centers and nearly 200,000 kilometers of fiber. In 2023, the company created a new wholly owned tower infrastructure company, Lati International S.A. (Lati) and in 2024 the company announced an agreement to sell Lati, including a portfolio of more than 7,000 towers in Central America, to SBA Telecommunications LLC.
The company conducts its operations through local holding and operating entities in various countries, which are either its subsidiaries (in which it is the sole shareholder or the controlling shareholder) or joint ventures with local partners.
As of December 31, 2024, the company provided services to 41.5 million mobile customers and 4.5 million customer relationships with a subscription to at least one of its fixed services. This includes 4.0 million customer relationships on its HFC and FTTH networks and 0.4 million DTH subscribers. The remaining customer relationships are served using various technologies, including fixed wireless solutions, as well as its legacy copper network. The company also provides mobile financial services (MFS) under the company's Tigo Money brand, which operates in Paraguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Bolivia, and Honduras.
Strategy
The company’s strategy is to continue to expand the reach and capacity of its networks and distribution capabilities to grow its customer base over time. Underpinning this strategy is management’s assessment that penetration rates for both mobile and fixed broadband services in its markets are low relative to penetration rates in other markets globally, and that they have potential to increase over time.
Services
The company’s services are organized into two principal categories: Mobile and Fixed and other services. In addition, the company sells telephone and other equipment, comprised mostly of mobile handsets. The company markets these services through a variety of channels, including owned and third-party retail outlets, direct sales, digital and internet advertising, television, and billboards, among others.
Mobile
In its Mobile category, the company provides mobile services, including mobile data, mobile voice, SMS and MFS, to consumers, businesses, and government customers. Mobile is the largest part of its business and generated 58% of consolidated service revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Mobile data, mobile voice and SMS
The company provides its mobile data, mobile voice and SMS services through 2G, 3G and 4G networks in all its mobile markets. The company offers 5G in Guatemala.
The company provides its mobile data, mobile voice, and SMS services on both prepaid and postpaid bases. In prepaid, customers pay for service in advance through the purchase of limited-duration data packages, and they do not sign service contracts. Among various options that the company's customers can choose from, the company offers packages that typically begin with a data allowance, and include a combination of voice minutes and SMS, with expiration dates varying in length from one or more days, up to a few weeks or months. In postpaid, customers pay recurring monthly fees for the right to consume up to a predetermined maximum amount of monthly data, voice usage, and SMS.
Mobile Financial Services (MFS)
The company provides a broad range of mobile financial services such as payments, money transfers, international remittances, savings, real-time loans and micro-insurance for critical needs through its MFS App, Tigo Money. Tigo Money allows its customers to send and receive money, without the need for a bank account. As of December 31, 2024, the company provided MFS to 3.7 million Tigo and non-Tigo customers. The service complements its Mobile and Fixed service offerings and increases customer satisfaction and loyalty, increasing ARPU and reducing customer churn. Since 2022, the company has been exploring entering into new financial and strategic partnerships aimed at enhancing Tigo Money's value creation potential and enabling a partial or full divestiture of Tigo Money in the future.
Fixed and Other Service Revenue
In its Fixed and other service revenue category, the company provides fixed services, including broadband, fixed voice, and pay-TV, to residential (Home) consumers, and to government and business (B2B) customers. Fixed and other service revenue generated 40% of the company's consolidated service revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Home
The company’s fixed-service residential customers (a customer relationship) generate revenue for it by purchasing one or more of its three fixed services, pay-TV, fixed broadband, and fixed telephony. The company refers to each service that a customer purchases as a revenue generating unit (RGU), such that a single customer relationship can have up to three RGUs in countries where it is permitted to sell all three services.
The company provides home services mainly over its HFC and FTTH networks, but the company also offers pay-TV services via its DTH platform. In some markets, the company also provides broadband services using fixed-wireless access and copper-based technologies. The company offers FTTH network and customer metrics as a subset of its HFC network and customer metrics.
The company provides Home services in every country where it operates. As of December 31, 2024, the Group had 4.5 million customer relationships, of which 4.0 million were connected to the company's HFC and FTTH networks, and the company had 8.1 million HFC and FTTH RGUs.
B2B Fixed
The company offers fixed-voice and data telecommunications services, managed services and cloud and security solutions to small, medium and large businesses and governmental entities. The company offers B2B fixed services in all of the markets in which it operates.
The company has already deployed nearly 200,000 kilometers of fiber in its markets, including its Honduras joint venture, and it is expanding its product portfolio to deliver more VAS and business solutions, such as cloud-based services and ICT managed services. The company has also established partnerships in the area of hypercloud, virtualization and Internet of Things, to capture the growth in the adoption of these technologies and help its customers accelerate their digital transformations.
Markets
The nine markets the company serves are Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras (through the company's joint venture), Nicaragua, Panama, and Paraguay. The company provides Fixed and other services in each of these markets, and it provides Mobile services in each market except for Costa Rica.
Bolivia
The company provides Mobile and Fixed and other services through Telefónica Celular de Bolivia S.A., which is wholly owned by the Millicom Group.
Mobile: As of December 31, 2024, the company served 3.9 million subscribers and were the second largest provider of Mobile services in Bolivia.
Fixed and Other: The company provides broadband and pay-TV services in Bolivia. As of December 31, 2024, the company had 683,000 customer relationships. The company offers broadband services through HFC and FTTH, and it provides pay-TV primarily through HFC, FTTH, and DTH in Bolivia.
Colombia
The company provides Mobile and Fixed and other services in Colombia through UNE EPM Telecomunicaciones S.A. (UNE), in which it owns a 50% plus one voting share interest and Colombia Móvil S.A., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of UNE. Millicom announced that the company signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Telefónica for the potential acquisition of Telefónica Colombia, or Telecomunicaciones S.A. ESP BIC (Coltel), as part of a broader intended combination of Coltel and UNE. A definitive agreement was signed on March 12, 2025.
Mobile: As of December 31, 2024, the company served 12.2 million subscribers and were the third largest provider of Mobile services in Colombia. On February 26, 2024, Colombia Móvil S.A. ESP (Tigo Colombia) finalized an agreement with Coltel to create a jointly owned mobile infrastructure business, which will combine some of its mobile network infrastructure and spectrum assets with the mobile network infrastructure and spectrum assets of Coltel.
Fixed and Other Services: Tigo is one of the principal digital cable operators in Colombia. As of December 31, 2024, the company were the second largest provider of pay-TV and broadband internet services in Colombia, with 1.6 million customer relationships. The company also has wholesale network access agreements with Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota (ETB) and Ufinet, giving it the ability to market Tigo fixed services in the Bogota metropolitan area where ETB or Ufinet have deployed their FTTH networks.
Costa Rica
The company provides Fixed and other services in Costa Rica through Millicom Cable Costa Rica S.A. (Millicom Costa Rica), which is wholly owned by the Millicom Group. The company has operated in Costa Rica since its acquisition of Amnet in 2008. On August 1, 2024, the company signed a binding agreement with Liberty Latin America to combine its operations in Costa Rica in a cashless merger in which Millicom would retain a minority equity ownership of approximately 14%. The transaction is subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close during the second half of 2025.
Fixed and Other Services: As of December 31, 2024, the company had 218,000 customer relationships through its HFC network and DTH services, and the company were the second largest provider of pay-TV and the fourth largest provider of broadband internet services in Costa Rica.
El Salvador
The company provides Mobile and Fixed and other services in El Salvador through Telemóvil El Salvador, S.A. de C.V. (Telemóvil), which is wholly owned by the Millicom Group.
Mobile: As of December 31, 2024, the company served 3.1 million subscribers and were the largest provider of Mobile services in El Salvador.
Fixed and Other Services: Telemóvil is a leading cable operator in El Salvador. As of December 31, 2024, the company were the second largest provider of pay-TV and the second largest provider of broadband internet services, with a total of 305,000 customer relationships on its HFC and FTTH networks and DTH services.
Guatemala
The company provides Mobile and Fixed and other services in Guatemala, principally through Comunicaciones Celulares S.A. (Comcel). On November 12, 2021, the company signed and closed an agreement to acquire the remaining 45% equity interest in Comcel and the other entities that operate its Guatemala business from its local partner. As a result, Millicom owns a 100% equity interest in the entities that operate its Guatemala business.
Mobile: As of December 31, 2024, the company provided Mobile services to 11.6 million customers and was the largest provider of mobile services in Guatemala. In 2022, the company became the first mobile operator in the country to launch 5G services. During 2023, the company participated in two separate spectrum auctions, which allowed it to significantly increase the total amount of spectrum available to it.
Fixed and other services: The company provides pay-TV and broadband internet services in Guatemala. As of December 31, 2024, the company served 701,000 customer relationships with both HFC and FTTH networks, as well as DTH services.
Honduras
The company provides Mobile and Fixed and other services in Honduras through Telefónica Celular S.A. de C.V. (Celtel), a joint venture in which the Millicom Group holds a 66.67% equity interest. The remaining 33.33% of Celtel is owned by its local partner.
Mobile: As of December 31, 2024, the company served 5.0 million Mobile subscribers, and it were the largest provider of Mobile services.
Fixed and Other Services: The company provides cable TV and the largest provider of broadband internet services. As of December 31, 2024, the company provided 184,000 customer relationships. The company offers triple-play services (cable TV, internet, and fixed telephone) in Honduras, and it also offers DTH, expanding the reach of its pay-TV offering to areas not covered by the company's fixed network. The company continues to invest to expand and upgrade the capacity of its fixed network in Honduras.
Nicaragua
In 2019, the company purchased Telefonía Celular de Nicaragua, S.A., the leading provider of Mobile services in the country, based on the number of subscribers. As of December 31, 2024, the company served 3.7 million mobile subscribers.
Panama
The company provides Mobile and Fixed and other services in Panama through Telecomunicaciones Digitales, S.A.
Mobile: As of December 31, 2024, the company had 2.8 million Mobile subscribers, and it were the largest provider of Mobile services in Panama.
Fixed and other services: As of December 31, 2024, the company had 438,000 customer relationships on its fixed network as well as through DTH services, and it were the largest provider of pay-TV and the largest provider of broadband internet services in Panama.
Paraguay
The company provides Mobile and Fixed and other services in Paraguay through various subsidiaries which are all wholly owned by the Millicom Group. The company’s largest subsidiary in Paraguay is Telefónica Celular del Paraguay S.A. (Telecel).
Mobile: As of December 31, 2024, the company had 4.3 million Mobile subscribers. The company provides Mobile services in Paraguay.
Fixed and Other Services: The company provides pay-TV and broadband internet services in Paraguay. As of December 31, 2024, the company had 481,000 customer relationships with its fixed networks, DTH, and, to a much lesser extent, other technologies. The company offers pay-TV services primarily using its fixed network, and it uses its DTH license to offer pay-TV in areas not reached by the company's fixed network. The company offers residential broadband internet services mostly using its fixed network, but it also employs wireless technology to provide service beyond the reach of its fixed networks. The company has exclusive rights to broadcast Paraguay’s national league championship games through 2027, and it has exclusive sponsorship rights in telecommunications for the Paraguayan National Soccer Team through 2026.
Bolivia: the company holds a license to provide telecommunication services in Bolivia until 2051, mobile service authorization and spectrum licenses until 2028/2031, cable, VOIP authorizations until 2028 and internet authorizations until 2046.
Colombia: Colombia Móvil S.A. (Colombia Móvil) holds two separate nationwide spectrum licenses in the 1900 MHz band totaling 50 MHz, the earliest of which expires in 2029. The renewal of the AWS license was approved until December 2025. As further disclosed in Note E.4.2. to its audited consolidated financial statements, on February 26, 2024, Tigo Colombia and Coltel signed an agreement to share their mobile networks. In December 2024, the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications approved the transfer of a 20 MHz license in the 700 MHz band to the Colombia Móvil - Colombia Telecomunicaciones joint operation and additionally, the Colombia Móvil - Colombia Telecomunicaciones joint operation was awarded 80 MHz of spectrum until 2044.
Costa Rica: The company holds a general license to provide telecommunication services which expires in 2029, and a spectrum permit to download content for cable TV services which expires in 2029.
El Salvador: The company holds a license to provide TV services until 2029 (fixed), telephone services until 2030, wireless telephone services until 2034 and several spectrum licenses until 2041.
Guatemala: The company operates a nationwide mobile network and hold spectrum licenses with the earliest expiration in 2026.
Honduras: Celtel has spectrum licenses in the 850 MHz and AWS bands, which expire in 2028. The Honduran government has been planning a multi-band frequency spectrum auction in the 700 MHz and 3,500 MHz bands. However, any spectrum auction is expected to be executed after a modification of the applicable telecommunications law.
Panama: The company holds cable TV, radio licenses and certain licenses to operate local, national and international long-distance telephony and resale services that will expire in 2044. The company also has certain other licenses to operate national and international long-distance telephony, which it expects to renew. A new block of 2x5 MHz in the 700 MHz band was assigned until 2036, totaling 30 MHz in the band.
Paraguay: The company owns licenses in four bands of spectrum in Paraguay with the earliest expiration in 2026. The company also holds an internet access and data transmission license that will expire in 2029.
Trademarks and Licenses
The company owns or has rights to some registered trademarks in its business, including Tigo, Tigo Business, Tigo Sports, Mi Tigo, Tigo Shop, Tigo Money, Tigo OneTv, Millicom and The Digital Lifestyle, among others. Under a number of trademark license agreements and letters of consent, certain operating subsidiaries are authorized to use the Tigo and Millicom trademarks under the applicable terms and conditions.
History
Millicom International Cellular S.A. was founded in 1990. The company was incorporated in 1992.
