Foxconn, which manufactures products for Apple as well as other vendors, is investing $500 million (R$1 billion) to open a new plant in the state of São Paulo, creating 10,000 new jobs. "The new facility consolidates the company's intention to invest heavily in the Brazilian market....
Nextel Communications' 3G network launch in Brazil, which has been expected for some time, may happen before the end of this year. The company confirmed to RCR Wireless News that "Nextel is working to start marketing its 3G later this year; it has already fulfilled the...
Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, signed a law that creates incentives for technological innovation, establishes programs to support broadband network installation and restores digital inclusion projects in the country's public schools. Rousseff did veto Article 34, which would have created tax credits for the telecom...
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers, we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but we...
Smartphones are hot in Brazil. While the total mobile phone market dropped 16% in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period of 2011, smartphone sales rose 77%. Feature phone sales decreased 29%. The Brazilian cellphone market reached 27.3 million units sold...
CARTAGENA, Colombia—Virgin Mobile Latin America (VMLA) is set to launch mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in Colombia during the last quarter this year and in Brazil during the second half of 2013, said Jeffery Buckwalter, VMLA’s senior vice president for business development, speaking at...
Two events shook up the Brazilian computer manufacturing market on Tuesday. The Brazil's personal-computer maker Positivo Informática announced that it will start producing mobile phones and smartphones. On the same day, it was rumored that China's Lenovo Group Ltd. intends to acquire Brazil electronic goods...
Brazilian wireless carriers want the 700 MHz  band for deploying LTE. And the government might auction this spectrum band ahead of schedule, sometime next year.  The primary issue is that the 700 MHz band is used for analog television signal—and the digital TV transition plan states that all...
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.
Recent battles between Brazil’s telecom regulator, Anatel, and the country’s top mobile operators highlight that it...
Can you imagine an airline's website that cannot handle the traffic increase when thousands of users flood the site after a low fare promotion? Or a ticketing network that fails during check-in? These systems are critical for airline operations.
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The Brazilian insurance company Porto Seguro has started mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services, providing machine-to-machine connections (M2M) to track 2,000 vehicles owned by current customers. The goal is to reach 450,000 vehicles over the next two years. Â The company also plans to launch...
In the near future, small cells, which encompass femtocells, picocells and microcells, will cost less than smartphones, thus providing a wide avenue to support mobile data growth, Qualcomm CEO, Paul Jacobs predicted. Jacobs was in Brazil this week to participate in Innovation Qualcomm 2012 in...
The Brazilian government has great ambitions for its information technology (IT) sector. Yesterday, the government unveiled a vast investment program totaling U.S.$247.65 million (R$500 million) over the 2012-2015 period, which aims to improve and increase software development, boosting both the software and IT service...
In a month when Anatel, Brazil's telecom regulatory agency, banned three telecom operators from selling mobile services for ten days, the country registered the lowest growth rate since 2006: with only 279,723 new active lines  added in July. Brazil now counts a total of 256.41 million of...
After securing U.S.$26.5 million in new equity funding to develop its regional business and launch mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services in Chile, Virgin Mobile Latin America (VMLA) announced it has closed on a U.S.$11 million debt funding agreement with IFC, a member of the World...
The chief executive officers (CEO) of five big Brazilian companies from different sectors showed concerns about Brazil’s future economic growth, during a panel discussion at the IBM Forum this week in São Paulo. While emphasizing past progress, they also agreed that the economic development...
Brazilian telecom minister Paulo Bernardo has called for a requirement for carriers to share network infrastructure. "Wireless carriers have announced that all towers and antennas for LTE will be shared. This is sensible and correct. They will gain from it; they will save money....
Anatel reports TIM disconnected calls on purpose
A report released last week by Brazil’s telecom regulator agency Anatel claims that TIM Brasil purposely dropped calls on customers of its low-cost Infinity Plan that charges customers by the call and not on the length of those...
Following its holding company's rebranding strategy, the CTBC name will be changed to Algar Telecom in the near future. It will be a very delicate move, and the most challenging thing the company has done in recent years. “We know we cannot make this change overnight....
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.
As mobile data and voice traffic soars, Brazilian service providers are understandably focused on growing their consumer base. But they...
Headquartered in Uberlândia, a city with 600,000 residents in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, Algar Telecom is the biggest part of the Algar Group, a private, family-owned company that runs nine different businesses in areas such as telecommunications, tourism, agriculture and aviation. Of...
There are thousands of Internet service providers (ISPs) across Brazil. Many of them focus on providing inhabitants of small cities with Internet access. Their job is huge, since Brazil is more than 3.2 million square miles. However, when big—and national-level—players arrive in their cities,...
The Brazilian telecom Grupo Oi reported a second-quarter drop in its net income of U.S.$31.23 million (R$64 million) in 2Q12, which is much less than the U.S.$169.2 million (R$346 million) of 1Q12 and the U.S.$69 million (R$141 million) of 4Q11. Oi reported U.S.$3.379 million...
