Brazil’s government has approved a tax break program that exempts companies from several federal taxes related to investment in telecommunications networks. A total of 1,400 projects are expected to fall under the tax relief program, totaling almost U.S.$2.67 billion (R$6 billion) in tax exemptions. The program includes such projects as data centers; access and transport networks; smart grids; underwater cables and satellites.
700 MHz auction — Brazil’s upcoming 700 MHz auction scheduled for Sept. 30 is running into some problems. Carriers are challenging the amount they are required to pay to an association to switch off digital television which currently operates in the 700 MHz frequency. The carriers also complain that other requirements are difficult to meet such as the additional payment for using other radio frequencies to meet obligations in the 2.5 GHz band. The regulatory agency Anatel has yet to issue a public decision about these issues.
Telcom investment — The Mexican government’s investment in public telecommunications projects is expected to total U.S.$227,000 (MXN 2.97 million) during 2014. In Chile, the government estimates that its telecom sector will invest about U.S.$29 billion during the next decade.
More news from the Latin American region:
- The Spanish Telefónica group might exit Telecom Italia if Telefónica’s plan to acquire Vivendi’s Brazilian broadband business GVT is realized.
- The Chilean company Entel, which recently acquired Nextel Peru, plans to invest U.S.$1.2 billion in the carrier during the next five years. The goal is to increase Nextel’s market share, which is currently 5%.
- Brazil ended July with a total of 276.15 million mobile accesses and an increase in LTE accesses, which reached 400,000. Another highlight is the increase in 3G, which gained marketshare from GSM. Of the total, GSM accounted for 48.54%, while WCDMA represented 44.38%.
- Costa Rica’s Sutel released new rules to help make roaming costs more transparent for customers. The measure follows user complaints about high roaming charges.
- TIM Brasil expanded its 3G coverage using the 900 MHz spectrum band. To date, 500 new radio base stations have been activated.
- In Colombia, DirecTV plans to offer its 4G services in 20 cities by the end of the year.
- Brazil’s Oi has partnered with Twitter to offer its Vine service for free to the carrier’s customers. Oi claims to be the first mobile operator in the world to make such an offering.
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