The Digital Divide and Skyborne Signals: Internet Access in El Salvador
As of early 2025, about 4.88 million Salvadorans are online, representing 76.9% of the population. The telecom sector privatized in 1997, leading to competition among Claro (~40%), Tigo (~25%), Digicel (~11%), Movistar (~6%), and Others (~5%) for fixed broadband. Mobile networks cover about 93% of the territory, and 92% of Salvadorans have at least 3G coverage. Mobile phone subscriptions reached 11.5 million in 2022, exceeding the 6.5 million population for roughly 160% penetration due to multiple SIMs. Fixed telephone lines and legacy DSL have stagnated at under 0.9 million, as mobile becomes the preferred access. Median fixed broadband download speeds
