Internet penetration in Ecuador is poised to reach 37.9% -- nearly 5.5 million users -- in December, an increase of 37% compared with 2010, when the country had 28% penetration and 3.6 million. The number of broadband Internet users has grown from 35,066 users...
The Costa Rican unit of Spanish telecom giant Telefónica filed a complaint Dec. 20 with Costa Rican telecom regulator Sutel against state-owned operator Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). Telefónica, which operates under the Movistar brand, accused ICE of anticompetitive practices in promotions for prepaid...
In Peru, the price of phone calls made from Telefonica del Peru landlines to any mobile phone will decrease 58% starting Dec. 30. Peruvian telecommunications regulator Osiptel announced a resolution approving a new rate of 0.30 soles (U.S. 11 cents) per minute, including a...
Over the next few years, the number of online shoppers in Latin America is expected to grow 20% a year, and business-to-consumer e-commerce revenue is expected to increase to U.S. $30 billion by 2013, according to a survey by German research firm yStats.com.
Brazil dominates...
Colombian telecommunications regulator CRC published a set of resolutions to foster the digital ecosystem, including so-called net neutrality, the promotion of content and applications, infrastructure, user protections. They aim to encourage the growth of Vive Digital Plan, which is to bring broadband to 8.8 million homes.
Third-generation networks in Latin America are evolving, and the needs of wireless carriers are evolving along with them. One of the major trends in the industry, particularly in Latin America, is fiber-based backhaul, currently a key demand driver for the neutral host colocation solutions...
The number of fixed and mobile lines in Cuba are now similar, with a total of 2.4 million lines in service -- 1.2 million of each type -- which is an increase of 18.5% for both modalities, said Mayra Arevich Marin, president of the Cuban...
Nearly 2.2 million patients worldwide were using a home monitoring service based on equipment with integrated connectivity at the end of 2011, according to a report by research firm Berg Insight. According to the Swedish firm, the number of home monitoring systems with integrated...
Non-computer devices (including mobile phones, tablets and other connected devices) accounted for an average of 2.6% of all web browsing activity across ten Latin American markets included in a recent ComScore's report on connected device usage. The study noted that although traffic generated from...
Global cloud computing traffic will grow 12-fold from 130 exabytes to reach a total of 1.6 zettabytes annually by 2015, which means a 66% compound annual growth rate, according to Cisco's Global Cloud Index (2010 – 2015) report.
In conjunction with the report, Cisco also...
Ecuador ended November with 15.76 million mobile subscribers, of which prepaid and GSM mobile phones accounted for the largest portion, according to the Ecuadorian Superintendence of Telecommunications (Supertel).
The country's prepaid base accounted for 13.35 million of users, while postpaid accounts numbered 2.41 million at...
Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) said they plan to create a global joint venture offering interoperability platforms and application solutions targeting healthcare providers and patients.
The new company, which has yet to be named, will be headquartered near the Microsoft...
Brazil's Algar Telecom, a division of the Algar Group that operates the CTBC brand, launched wired Internet services providing data speeds up to 100 megabits per second and unveiled a high-definition pay-TV service. The move was part of Algar's attempt to diversify its product...
Peru and Chile are set to meet in an attempt to hash out telecommunications agreements and address important topics in order to integrate and share their experiences for the sector. Both countries agreed that the shared development of telecommunications is important for economic and...
U.S.-based VelaTel Global Communications (previously known as ChinaTel Group) said it will continue focusing on deployments in Peru next year, according to Ryan Alvarez, VP of marketing for VelaTel in an interview with RCR Wireless News. Asked about company’s expansion to other Latin American...
América Móvil’s Telmex (BMV: TELMEX) said it intends to delist its American depositary shares from the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq and its L Shares from the Mercado de Valores Latinoamericanos en Euros in Madrid (Latibex) and to terminate its American depositary...
Colombian public carrier UNE EPM Telecomunicaciones SA named David Escobar Arango as its president for a transition period effective Jan. 3, 2012. The move comes after outgoing President Horacio Vélez de Bedout submitted his resignation to the board this month.
Arango, an engineer by training,...
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.
After years trying to modify the market dynamic by not subsidizing handsets, Brazilian operator Oi...
Consumerization, cloud computing, consumer and enterprise social networks, mobile application, the shifting of sources of supply from Asia to the Americas, big data and cybercrime are some of the trends among research and advisory firm Gartner’s top predictions for IT organizations and users for...
After winning a contract in April to supply and manage an emergency services call system for El Salvador's national police force, the Panama unit of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) has opened an office in the Central American country.
For CWC, which provides managed telecom services...
Brazil closed November with 236.1 million mobile subscribers, reaching teledensity of 120.81 connections per 100 people. Prepaid continued to account for the largest portion, 81.7%, and the trend may remain like that for a while.
According to data released by Brazilian telecom regulator Anatel, the...
Brazil's market for mobile virtual network operators may have at least three players after French mobile virtual network enabler Sisteer was granted a license to operate as an MVNx by Brazilian telecommunications regulator Anatel.
Sisteer was awarded the full authorization to operate as an MVNO,...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We’ve gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.
Brazil has finally awoken to the enormous opportunities in the machine-to-machine communications market. M2M communications are roughly defined as the...
In its second edition, Ericsson's Networked Society City Index ranked 25 of the world's largest cities according to their ability to use ICT for social, economic and environmental benefits. The top three cities in the index -- Seoul, Singapore and Stockholm -- have successfully met many social, economic and environmental targets by making extensive investments in ICT, Ericsson noted.
