Welcome to this week’s edition of cell tower industry news, created by Jarad Matula and brought to you by Towercrews.net.
AT&T infrastructure investment slows, contractor layoffs
It's been a rough week for some tower crews working primarily on AT&T towers this week. RCR's own Martha DeGrasse reported...
Before the FIFA World Cup began, Brazilian telecom union SindiTelebrasil said that the operators' networks were ready to handle the increased data and voice traffic, and during the first week of the tournament the wireless performance was closely watched.
During the first games in each of the 12 arenas that...
The FIFA World Cup begins today in Brazil, starting with a match between the host country and Croatia in São Paulo at the Arena Corinthians. Around 600,000 foreign tourists are expected to arrive in Brazil for the World Cup, and according to the telecom...
Brazil's mobile market ended April with almost 2.5 million LTE connections. Although the total LTE base is still relatively small (less than 1% penetration), LTE use has been increasing, with record growth last month. Led by Claro, which added 177,000 new LTE connections in April,...
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,...
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...
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...
Brazil's antitrust regulator has issued a negative assessment of Telefónica's recent move to bolster its stake in the Telco holding company that owns about 22% of Telecom Italia, the company that controls Brazilian carrier TIM. By increasing its stake, Telefónica will effectively take control of the heavily indebted Italian...
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....
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...
