Argentina is set to conduct spectrum auctions this year designed to free up frequencies for both 3G and 4G services.
According to the minister of economy, Axel Kicillof, and the communications secretary, Norberto Berner, the 1.7/2.1 GHz (advanced wireless services) band auction will focus on LTE services while the...
Welcome to this week’s edition of cell tower industry news, created by Jarad Matula and brought to you by Towercrews.net. Tower companies and carriers are certainly getting their day in court lately. Last week it was a federal court debating police use of cell tower...
The Brazilian government has opened the public consultation period for its upcoming 700 MHz frequency band auction. Last year, during the  Futurecom event in Rio de Janeiro,telecom regulatory agency Anatel said that the 700 MHz auction would take place during the first half of 2014 with the goal of providing...
On the same day the global Net Mundial event began in São Paulo, Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, enacted the Marco Civil da Internet bill, which aims to protect online privacy and sets up a form of net neutrality in the country. The senate passed the bill on April 22, which followed the lower house...
The merger between Colombian state telco UNE and Millicom's Colombian unit Tigo has received approval from the country’s regulator for industry and commerce, the SIC. Once merged, they will account for 135 megahertz of spectrum, and the SIC has determined that the companies should...
The Colombian regulator needs more power to increase competition in the telecommunications sector,  according to a new report from the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). The report does recognize that Colombia has done a lot to strengthen the rules governing its telecom sector, but...
After almost five years of discussion, the lower house of Brazil’s congress, the Chamber of Deputies, voted in favor of approving the Internet bill named the Marco Civil da Internet. It is now going to the senate and President Dilma Rousseff for their approvals. If enacted,...
Telecom operators in Brazil have closed deals with the administrations of the Itaquerão stadium in São Paulo and the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba for the deployment of indoor wireless coverage. The delay on closing trade agreements, which had started in May 2013, was...
NII Holdings, which operates in Latin America under the Nextel brand, posted a rough 2013, with the company reporting losses in both subscribers and revenue.
“We are clearly disappointed with our operational performance in 2013, and we are taking actions to improve our business results,...
The Spanish group Telefónica announced a major reorganization in its operations, ending the Telefónica Digital unit, created in 2011 with the objective of bolstering Telefónica’s place in the digital world and leveraging any growth opportunities arising in this environment. To replace its digital unit,...
In the middle of discussions over TIM’s future, Telecom Italia CEO Marco Patuano visited Brazil and announced investments of around $1.68 billion per year through 2016. Patuano also used his visit and meeting with communications minister Paulo Bernardo to send a message for those...
While Brazil's information and communications technology (ICT) market consolidates becoming the world's 4th largest―behind the U.S., China and Japan―total spending by ICT businesses in the country is expected to reach U.S.$175 billion this year, according to the IDC. This is a predicted growth of...
After much speculation, Virgin Mobile Latin America (VMLA) announced that it will launch mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services in Mexico in the next few months. Virgin Mobile Mexico has already begun its business build-out with a focus on sales, marketing and customer service.
The...
Mobile wallet, satellite broadband, carrier Wi-Fi, fiber-to-the-home, machine-to-machine services and LTE are the main technology trends in Latin America for 2014, according to Frost & Sullivan. The key technology this year according to the firm’s analysts is LTE, which is gaining relevance across the...
Telefónica has agreed to provide NII Holdings’ subsidiaries in Brazil and Mexico with nationwide voice and data coverage services using the Telefónica's 3G wireless networks in those markets. NII Holdings operates under the Nextel brand in the two countries, and the agreement with Telefónica aims...
Spanish telecom giant Telefónica denied a report that it is preparing a joint offer to take over Telecom Italia's Brazilian unit, TIM.
The Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore published an article last week stating that Telefónica was working on a joint offer to buy...
December marked a milestone for LTE coverage in Brazil, with carriers hitting the deadline for providing LTE services in both FDD and TDD modes in all 12 cities that will serve as the headquarters for the FIFA World Cup. LTE services have been active...
A consortium made up of Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca and Tendai won a bid to install and operate a fiber optic network covering nearly 80% of Peru. The National Fiber Optic Backbone grant consists of the design, deployment and operation of a 13,000-kilometer fiber...
Peru's regulatory agency OSIPTEL released two proposals over the past week affecting the telecom environment. The first proposal states that telecommunication operators should raise the minimum guaranteed connection speed for fixed and mobile Internet. The minimum speed should not be less than 40% of the...
