Latin American telecom operators have seen a slowdown in the growth of messaging services, but they haven’t been cannibalized yet by over-the-top players, as has happened in Europe. A recent Acision Monitor of Mobile Value Added Services report showed that total mobile service revenue in the region totaled $25.29 billion in the second quarter this year, 12% more than the same period of 2012.
Value-added services accounted for $7.67 billion, a 24% increase, positively impacted by the 61% growth in smartphone sales. According to the survey, VAS represented 35% of total sales for LatAm telcos; mobile broadband had the biggest growth at 33%, representing 50% of total VAS. SMS use grew 17% in the quarter, totaling $3.17 billion.
Acision released MAVAM editions for Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. In Argentina, VAS sales accounted for 49.4% of operators’ sales, and SMS and MMS continued to drive VAS revenue, making up 56.8% of service sales ($570 million) in Q2 2013.
Mobile VAS sales increased 13% in Mexico compared with the same period last year, while in Brazil, mobile VAS sales increased by 25.5% compared to the same period in 2012.
Entel to deploy FTTH—Chilean Entel is preparing a broad fiber optic deployment aimed at boosting its telecom services to compete better against Telefónica, VTR, Claro and GTD Manquehue. By deploying fiber-to-the-home nationally, Entel can improve its fixed telephony, Internet broadband and pay-TV. Entel has a $2.2 billion investment plan for the period of 2013-2015. In addition to FTTH, Entel is also deploying and expanding 3G and LTE networks.
NSA spying in Brazil—Ever since Edward Snowden leaked documents on the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) spying program, the Brazilian government has shown increasing concern. Last week, the country’s telecom regulator Anatel said it is analyzing contracts between national operators and foreign companies to investigate possible breaches of privacy after new allegations of U.S. spying. The government wants to know if the United States used software to probe communications between President Dilma Rousseff and unidentified aides.
More news from the Latin American market:
- Oberthur Technologies, Movistar Chile, and Banco Santander Chile are joining together to provide a contactless payment solution.
- Claro Panamá has invested about U.S.$500 million over the past five years. During this time, the carrier has deployed its 3G networks.
- Venezuela’s Digitel said it has reached 5,000 LTE clients. The company began its LTE offerings in July.
- The Colombian antitrust agency SIC has fined América Móvil’s local unit Claro approximately U.S.$45.2 million for abusing its dominant position in the mobile market and engaging in practices that affected open competition.
NII Holdings announced Gokul Hemmady as Nextel Brazil’s new CEO. He will also remain the COO of NII Holdings.- In Peru, Ingram Micro signed a distribution agreement with Condusiv Technologies, which makes high-performance software optimizing technology.
- Brazil has reached 350 million telecom connections, including both fixed and mobile telephony, paid-TV and Internet broadband.
- Motorola has launched its Moto X smartphone in Brazil.
Be sure not to miss what’s happening in Latin America’s wireless markets. Check out RCR Wireless News wrap ups.
