April 30 was the final day to deploy LTE networks in the Brazilian host cities of the FIFA Confederations Cup, and the largest four carriers that were granted LTE licenses met the deadline. Telefónica held a press conference on April 30 to announce its services under its Brazilian brand Vivo, while TIM chose to talk about its new 4G services during its quarterly results conference call.
Vivo also launched LTE in the city of São Paulo in addition to the six host cities that will host the Confederations Cup games in June.
TIM commented on its LTE plans during its conference call for the first quarter of 2013 held on April 30. TIM’s new president, Rodrigo Abreu, said that the company had complied with the rules of telecom regulator, Anatel. According to the teleco’s strategy, LTE complements its data provision and 3G offering.
Oi said it anticipated the launch of LTE services in the cities of Salvador, Recife, Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Fortaleza on April 30. The company made this statement after the government said that carriers could not delay the launch. Earlier Oi had launched initial commercial services only in Rio de Janeiro on April 25 with a further expansion to the five additional Confederations Cup host cities planned for the first half of May.
The telecom union SindiTelebrasil said that telecom operators installed a total of 3,500 antennas with the goal of providing LTE while investment in frequencies and infrastructure totaled U.S.$2.5 billion (R$5 billion). According to SindiTelebrasil, by the end of the year, more than 6,000 antennas should be installed to bring LTE to the cities that will host the FIFA World Cup games.
LTE auction in Colombia—The Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (MinTIC) issued a resolution to modify some of the LTE auction conditions contained in Resolution 449/2013. Among other issues, the latest resolution states that involved companies or unions will need to comply with conditions and obligations relating to having a prior presence in the market.
Azteca Communications Group Colombia has confirmed to Convergencialatina that it is seeking spectrum in the AWS band (1710 MHz to 1755 MHz paired with 2110 MHz to 2155 MHz). Next Thursday is the deadline for submitting applications for the auction of 225 MHz of spectrum, according to the new conditions in MinTIC’s recently posted resolution.
NII Holdings operating revenue down—NII Holdings, which operates in Latin America under the brand Nextel, posted a weak first quarter. The company posted consolidated operating revenue of U.S.$1.41 billion, down 13% from the level reported in the first quarter of 2012. The carrier said that it added 152,000 net subscribers to its network during the quarter, bringing its subscriber base to more than 11.5 million. NII also named Steve Shindler chief executive officer. Shindler said he will continue to focus attention on the build-out of Nextel’s 3G networks.
Oi posts strong quarterly earnings—Oi booked a net profit of U.S.$131 million (R$262 million) in the first three months of this year. Total net revenue reached U.S.$3.5 billion (R$7 billion), up 3.5% compared to the same period of 2012. The company’s investments totalled U.S.$850 million (R$1.7 billion) at the end of the quarter, 55% higher. Oi expects to receive about U.S.$500 million (R$1 billion) in cash in the coming months from the sale of rights to the use of its towers.
TIM financial results—The carrier also announced its 1Q13 results:
Investments—Chile’s Entel (Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones S.A) said that it plans to invest about U.S.$700 million in its local operations during 2013. The amount is part of the U.S.$2.2 billion in investment the telecom operator expects to make during 2013-2015.
Telefónica Venezuela also announced new investments: the carrier is aiming to strengthen its presence in the Venezuela’s central region by investing more than U.S.$79.5 million (Bs.500 million). The investment is expected to result in the deployment of 37 new cells, increasing the company’s bandwidth and expanding its 3G network.
Telefónica sells assets—The Spanish telecom group has reached an agreement to sell part of its assets in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama. The transaction’s value is estimated at U.S.$500 million. The sale is part of Telefónica’s policy to proactively manage its portfolio, assets and initiatives to increase financial flexibility.
MVNO in LTE—During Informa’s LTE Latin America event, the Brazilian telecom operator Algar said that it is studying the possibility of launching LTE services as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) focused on the corporate market. Algar did not participate in the 2.5 GHz spectrum auction.
Internet of Things—A survey by SAP and Harris Interactive found that Brazil, China, Germany and India are the most ready for machine-to-machine (M2M) technology to develop more connected, smarter cities. All six countries expressed a strong belief in M2M as the natural evolution of technology and widely agree in the need for, and see the benefits of, a broader adoption of M2M.
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