The greater the number of competitors, the better for the user, said Brazil's minister of communications, Paulo Bernardo, to members of the press this week. Those comments came on the heels of Telefónica's bid to buy Vivendi's Brazilian unit GVT. Telefónica hopes to combine its Vivo operations, which...
In a new twist to the changing Mexican telecom market, Telefónica is reportedly in talks to acquire Grupo Iusacell, a deal that could be worth up to $4 billion, according to local newspaper El Confidencial. Rumors have been circulating since early June that the two were considering a merger. In a regulatory...
Mexico's senate is scheduled to hold a special session to debate additional laws to the country's new telecommunications regulations designed to curb the market dominance of companies owned by billionaire Carlos Slim. The session is set to begin July 4.
In a related move, the country’s telecom regulator, the Instituto Federal...
NII Holdings is reportedly selling its Nextel operations in Chile and Argentina. According to the Argentinean newspaper La Nación, two Argentinian businessmen, MatÃas Garfunkel and Sergio Szpolski, the owners Grupo Veintitres, are close to buying the mobile phone service for about $250 million.
Last year, NII Holdings agreed...
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...
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,...
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...
Welcome to our weekly collection of all the top cell tower news stories, where we cover global, national, regional, local and distributed antenna system stories. While hoopla surrounding the "polar vortex" may have subsided, we're still in the dead of winter in many parts...
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...
Telefónica Brazil is starting its first trial to virtualize customer premises equipment (CPE). The telecom operator is partnering with NEC Corporation for the trial. The CPE solution is expected to simplify the home equipment installation process, and in the process, Telefónica’s broadband network access and...
With 250 million active users in the region (about 21% of total users), Facebook is looking at Latin America as a strategic area for the company. For example, over the next year, Facebook will open its fifth office serving Latin America. Located in Colombia,...
A new carrier was announced in Brazil last week. On Telecom will begin its operations backed by billionaire financier George Soros. The new competitor, which is targeting a niche in the Brazilian market, Â will offer home and office connections over TD-LTE. On Telecom is...
The advanced wireless services (1.7/2.1 GHz) spectrum band auction in Peru is scheduled for July 22. ProInversión announced that four carriers have qualified to bid in the auction that will enable LTE deployment in the country. The participating telecom operators are: Telefónica Móviles (Movistar),...
Mexico’s telecommunications sector grew 12.5% during the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period of 2012, according to Telecommunications Sector Production Index data. The telecom sector grew more than the Mexican GDP, which grew .8% for the period. The report, released by...
The past few weeks have been intense for Mexico’s telecommunications sector, and the ongoing discussion of proposed reforms to the local regulatory framework have been the main attraction. During this time,
Last week was a busy one for Latin American carriers. While U.S.-based NII Holdings announced it is exiting Peru by selling its Nextel operations to Entel, Virgin Mobile announced the soft launch of its mobile virtual network operator in Colombia. Also in Colombia, Millicom’s Tigo...
As an extension of a global agreement with Telefónica, the wireless backhaul provider Ceragon Networks has made a deal with the carrier's Mexican unit to move forward with its network upgrades. With the addition of Mexico, Ceragon now provides high-capacity wireless backhaul solutions to...
