Colombia’s public telecom operator, UNE EPM, is investing U.S.$ 2.5 million to launch LTE services in the city of Barranquilla. The investment will be used to install radio base stations, fiber optics and transmitters. With this investment, UNE plans to provide coverage for the entire city rapidly—currently...
Virgin Mobile Latin America Inc. (VMLA) closed a second debt funding agreement with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, to fund its operations in Colombia. The debt facility is up to U.S.$14 million. VMLA was expected to launch a mobile virtual network...
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.
More than 200 years ago, Edmund Burke said one of the most over-quoted sentences in history:...
Spectrum auctions for next generation mobile services have two different strategic implications for our region. First, in developing markets such as Latin America, mobile broadband is a crucial, cost-effective opportunity to increase broadband penetration, fulfill local governments' goals of digital inclusion and bring digital...
Seven telecom operators have joined together to ask the Colombian government to make the wireless market more competitive. Avantel, Azteca, DirecTV, ETB, Movistar, Une and Tigo released a joint statement complaining of competition problems in the country. "If it stays like it is, a...
Colombia is becoming a very interesting country for investors. With the Vive Digital plan, the government is looking to boost Internet penetration in Colombia to decrease poverty, generate jobs and improve and increase competitiveness and productivity. As a result, the country is proving attractive for...
Colombia's LTE auction has been postponed again. The government announced that it will take place in February next year, and América Móvil's Claro will be allowed to bid in the 2.5 GHz. The main reason for so many delays was the polemic debate over the...
Colombia telecom regulators seem to be moving toward enabling spectrum in the 700 MHz band, internationally known as the digital dividend, to enhance high-speed mobile Internet benefits in rural areas. The National Spectrum Agency (ANE) announced that Huawei, ZTE and Ericsson will conduct tests in...
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.
Despite all the efforts of the Colombian ICT ministry, Mintic, to award LTE spectrum in December,...
ETB (Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota), a Colombian state-owned telecommunication company, plans to issue U.S.$600 million in bonds in international capital markets to fund the expansion of its fiber optic network, according to the local media which cited Bogota's mayor, Gustavo Petro.
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Major leadership changes were announced this week at the Colombian telecommunications regulator (CRC) and the Spanish telecom operator Telefónica.
CRC's executive director, Carlos Andrés Rebellón, has resigned his position. He had been the head of the CRC since November 5, 2010. In his resignation letter,...
Azteca Comunicaciones Colombia tapped Alcatel-Lucent to help with the installation and operation of a national fiber optic telecommunications network designed to benefit people in 753 municipalities. Financial terms of the agreement were not announced.
Last year, the Unión Temporal Fibra Óptica Colombia consortium, comprising Mexico’s...
Mobile broadband will be a major contributor to increasing Internet connectivity in Colombia, Carlos Andrés Rebellón, executive director of the Colombian telecommunications regulator, CRC, told RCR Wireless News. A recent CRC report places Colombia third in the region for its information technology and communications...
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...
CARTAGENA, Colombia—Bancolombia's acquisition of a 70% stake in Colombia’s MVNO Uff Móvil is a milestone for m-banking development in the country. The purchase means the same company will manage both the financial and telecommunication side if m-banking, making the process easier.
Nothing has been defined yet,...
CARTAGENA, Colombia—"Before the end of this year, we hope to have more operators to offer LTE services,” said Colombian ICT Minister Diego Molano Vega, during the opening session Andicom (read all pieces), the largest Colombian ICT event. Colombia has already assigned all of its 3G...
Colombian municipally owned company Empresas Municipales de Cali (Emcali) is investing U.S.$460,000 to expand public Wi-Fi throughout the city of Cali. According to the company, 140 more cells will be installed in the coming days to provide free Internet access in parks, squares and...
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...
Colombia’s Ministry of Information Technology and Communications (Mintic) and the Spectrum Agency (ANE) have once again postponed the auction of spectrum licenses set to support LTE services. The delay was announced during the International Spectrum Congress held this week, when officials presented a document...
Colombia’s public telecom operator, UNE EPM, has secured a loan of up to approximately U.S.$224 million (400 billion COP). The carrier signed a 10-year credit with a disbursement period ending January 31, 2013 and an interest rate DTF + 3.90%, with BBVA, Banco de Santander,...
With investments plans of $130 million, Colombia’s public telecom operator UNE EPM launched LTE services yesterday in Bogota and Medellín. The company said its next steps include expanding the service to Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena and Bucaramanga during the second half of the year, with...
One of the first mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in Latin America, Colombian Uff Móvil launched its services back in November 2010 and ended December 2011 with 249,000 users or 0.7% share of the wireless market. This is expansive growth compared to the 0.18%...
Last month, the Colombian operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota (ETB) added mobile voice to its data MVNO offer; now ETB is aiming to reach 1 million subscribers over the next five years from a total target market of 1.8 million fixed lines.
By launching mobile services, ETB expanded...
Virgin Mobile Latin America (VMLA) expects to launch mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) in Colombia and Brazil over the next 18 months, according to Jeffery Buckwalter, VMLA's senior vice president for business development, speaking at this week's MVNO Industry Summit Latam (chek all stories).
The company has...
