LTE services are growing across Latin America. Following launches in other countries, Movistar Peru announced it will commercially launch its LTE services on Jan. 2. The service will initially be available in seven districts within the Lima region. Movistar Peru named its LTE service...
In 2012, the mobile industry generated more than 3.7% of Latin America's GDP, contributing U.S.$211 billion to the region's economy. Latin America now accounts for 10% of the global mobile market in terms of revenue, more than double the percentage from ten years ago....
Colombian Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogotá has decided to sell its nearly 25% stake in Colombia Móvil-Tigo to UNE-EPM for $240 million.
Earlier this year, Millicon and EPM Telecomunicaciones, the largest shareholder of UNE EPM Telecomunicaciones, entered into exclusive negotiations about the possible combination of their...
Big changes are in the works for Brazil's telecommunication policies. At the end of last week telecom regulator Anatel published a resolution on the 700 MHz band saying that an auction for this frequency band will only occur if interference issues with broadcasters are solved....
When NII Holdings reported its third quarter results. The carrier, which is also known as Nextel in Latin America, also announced plans to deploy LTE in select cities in 2014.
According to NII Holdings CEO Steve Shindler, the move to launch LTE services is designed...
RIO DE JANEIRO—The impact of software defined networks (SDN) and how carriers should deal with over-the-top (OTT) providers were hot topics at Futurecom, the largest telecom event of Latin America held in Brazil last week. At the trade show, RCR Wireless News conducted several video interviews...
RIO DE JANEIRO - More than half (52%) of all videos played across Brazil’s 3G networks suffer from significant stalling and buffering, according to a survey from Skyfire, a fully-owned subsidiary of Opera Software.
The study found that 89% of all videos running across different...
RIO DE JANEIRO — Although there are some concerns regarding TIM’s future in Brazil, following negotiations between Telefónica and TIM's parent company Telecom Italia, TIM president Rodrigo Abreu outlined some of the carrier's goals at the Futurecom event this week. Abreu also highlighted the need for the...
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s Oi, which recently merged with Portugal Telecom, announced it will have 500,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in Brazil by the end of this year. Speaking at the Futurecom event, Zeinal Bava, president of Oi and PT, said that the carrier has 319,000...
RIO DE JANEIRO — Alcatel-Lucent is betting on the growth of small cells across the Caribbean and Latin American region. In a meeting with members of the press at the Futurecom event, Osvaldo Di Campli, president of Alcatel-Lucent's CALA unit, announced that the vendor has secured...
RIO DE JANEIRO—Expanding LTE services is among Telefónica Vivo's goals for the next year. During a lecture at the Futurecom event, Antonio Carlos Valente, president of Telefónica Vivo, said the carrier plans to provide LTE services in 72 cities in Brazil by the end...
RIO DE JANEIRO — The first m-payment product following a joint venture between Claro Brazil and Bradesco, one of the largest banks in Latin America, debuted at the Futurecom event this week. The joint venture named MPO (Mobile Payment Operator) was first announced last November.
The new product, called...
Last month Spanish telecom operator Telefonica announced it was increasing its stake in the holding entity that controls a 22.4% stake in the largest Italian operator, Telecom Italia. While the new agreement
RIO DE JANEIRO — Telefónica Vivo presented the first range of smartphones with the Firefox operating system in Brazil during the Futurecom event this week. Vivo is currently the only telecom operator in the country to sell LG and Alcatel devices.
The release follows Firefox...
RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazil's 700 MHz auction is expected to take place during the first half of next year with the goal of providing enough spectrum bands for LTE expansion in the country, according to João Rezende, president of Brazil's telecom regulatory agency, Anatel, and Genildo...
Brasil has the most expensive cell phone rates on the planet, according to a study released by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). According to the organization, a one-minute call in Brazil costs about U.S.$0.71 to $0.74, three times more than a similar call in the U.S....
Telefónica Brazil is starting its first trial to virtualize customer premises equipment (CPE). The telecom operator is partnering with NEC Corporation for the trial. The CPE solution is expected to simplify the home equipment installation process, and in the process, Telefónica’s broadband network access and...
Oi, the huge Brazilian carrier that plans to be big enough to face foreign competition, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Portugal Telecom (PT) to form a combined entity named CorpCo. The merger which will unite the shareholders of Oi, Portugal Telecom...
When Spain-based Telefónica announced plans to bolster its stake in the Telco holding company, which controls about 22% of Telecom Italia, it started a huge discussion in Brazil and Argentina's telecom markets about what would happen to TIM in Brazil and Telecom Argentina, which are both...
Brazilian telecom operator Vivo announced plans to expand its fiber optic network across state capitals of Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, BrasÃlia, Salvador and Porto Alegre. The carrier, which is controlled by Spanish group Telefónica, said the initiative is part of its plans to...
With 250 million active users in the region (about 21% of total users), Facebook is looking at Latin America as a strategic area for the company. For example, over the next year, Facebook will open its fifth office serving Latin America. Located in Colombia,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We’ve collected a group of the industry’s leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.
At the end of August, I had the pleasure to take part in a keynote panel...
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...
Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) announced that Beijing Mobile, a branch of the Chinese operator China Mobile, will implement NSN's extensive quality of experience (QoE) solution, aiming to improve its customer experience by linking network performance with subscriber satisfaction and application behavior. The carrier...
