Virgin Mobile Latin America (VMLA) confirmed today it would launch operations in Colombia in the second half of the year. The company said it has received all regulatory approvals necessary to begin its business from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies, and recently...
Panama is set to unveil fixed number portability Feb.13, completing its process to allow telephone subscribers to switch operators, but keep their numbers. The landline launch follows the implementation of mobile number portability that began on Nov. 29.
Panama's National Authority for Public...
IT services provider Atos said it plans to acquire a 50% stake in MSL Group, which provides real-time results and information systems for major sports events. Atos, which is a worldwide IT partner for the Olympic and Paralypic Games, noted that combined the operations...
Visa announced it has approved NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and Research In Motion for use with Visa payWave, its mobile application for payments at the point of sale.
Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry...
Embracing enterprise-focused services has been a key strategy for several telecom operators around the globe. A recent cloud services study published by market research firm Infonetics Research shows that 70% of respondent operators are investing in cloud services in anticipation of demand.
Infonetics analysts interviewed...
Telefónica’s Movistar Chile anounced the transfer of 558 telecommunications towers to telecom infrastructure giant American Tower's Chilean subsidiary ATC. The purchase price reaches approximately $96 million (49.153 billion of Chilean pesos.)
The transfer of the antenna support towers' telecommunications transmission includes the facilities to keep...
Little more than a month after its announcement, the merger of local data, fixed-line, cable TV and Internet provider Grupo GTD with Chile’s second-largest mobile telephone operator, Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones SA (Entel), is cancelled. Yesterday (January 9) Entel’s controller, Almendral Telecomunicaciones SA, sent...
During 2011, 5.37 million Brazilians, both mobile and fixed-line users, have switched their telephone operators without changing their numbers. That's an 18.37% increase from 2010, when 4.54 million number portability requests were registered. According to ABR Telecom, the association that manages number portability operations...
Global ICT spending growth in 2012 is forecast to be lower than previously expected. Gartner Inc is now predicting growth of 3.7% this year. The firm's previous forecast for the 2012 growth rate was 4.6%, and the growth rate for 2011 was 6.9%. Gartner...
The Paraguayan Communications Company (Copaco) launch of its Internet Protocol television (IPTV) services starts its triple play offer, which is set to be the first in the country.
According to local press La Nación, total investments were about US $10 million (PYG 50 billion).
The IPTV...
Although 3G networks in Brazil's capital cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are newer than those in London, their perforance is worse. A recent survey conducted by Informa Telecoms & Media compared these three cities’ mobile broadband infrastructure.
“London has more subscribers and...
Brazil was the leading country in growth in Facebook users during 2011 among the top 30 countries by number of active users, according to researcher Nick Burcher, who has been collating Facebook usage statistics by country for a few years now. He noted that...
The merger of local data, fixed-line, cable TV and Internet provider Grupo GTD and Chile’s second-largest mobile telephone operator, Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones SA (Entel), could be threatened as the National Economic Prosecutor (Fiscalia Nacional Economica, FNE) is reviewing the merger and has submitted...
There are four LTE networks in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) said in an updated report about the LTE evolution. The association confirmed 49 LTE operators have launched commercial services. The GSA report covers LTE FDD and LTE...
Colombia’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has invited expressions of interest from industry players to participate in the process for granting permits for use of radio spectrum in frequency bands 1850 MHz to 1990 MHz and 1710 MHz to 1755 MHz, paired with...
DirecTV’s Latin America subsidiary Sky Brazil announced its plans to acquire Acom Comunicacoes SA, provider of pay-TV and Internet broadband services through multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS).
Sky, which did not disclose the purchase price, announced its plans Dec. 4 to antitrust (CADE) and communications...
Chile's lower house of congress approved a bill last month regulating the installation of mobile phone antennas. Under the proposal, any dealer-installed support tower antennas and radiating systems telecommunications transmission over 12 meters (about 40 feet) tall would require installation permit from the Directorate of Municipal Works, which determines in which areas antennas may be built as well as the rates that municipalities may charge for the right of use.
The Bahamas Telecommunications Co. (BTC), a unit of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), has upgraded its mobile networks to HSPA+ to enable its customers to access mobile Internet broadband.
Until improving its network to high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+) technology, Bahamians previously had access only to...
Starting Jan. 16, Chileans mobile subscribers will be able to keep their original phone numbers when switching telephone operators. So-called mobile number portability will affect 25 million users, Chile's Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications estimates.
As part of number portability deployment, Chile's Department of Telecommunications...
Colombian operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota has set for Jan. 19 the commercial launch of its mobile telephony services under mobile virtual network operator. ETB first started offering data services under the brand name Internet Móvil ETB in 2010, said Jose Otero, president...
It has been more than a year since Orange Business Services decided on a new go-to market strategy. The company, which is a unit of France Telecom, is looking to increase its service’s share. The French enterprise is aiming to become a leader in...
With technology having become ubiquitous, consumerized, cheaper and more equally available to all, the second half of the Information Age will be focused on the exploitation of technology and the information it processes. During this period, the great fortunes are being made by companies...
Mexican electric power utility company Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) is conducting a smart grid project to use wireless data radios to monitor and control crucial electric power applications. After CFE selected Elster Group’s EnergyAxis smart grid solution in April to power the utility’s...
Brazilian carrier Oi said it has improved its network capacity to meet the growth in voice and data mobile traffic during New Year's Eve celebrations. Oi has turned over 15 radio base stations and improved the capacity of the current stations.
At Copacabana beach, located...
