4G Americas reported that there are now 20 commercial LTE networks in nine Latin American countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Paraguay, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. In May, there were about 136,000 LTE connections in Latin America, and that number is forecasted rise to 2 million at the end of 2013.
According to the 4G Americas, there are 172 commercial LTE networks globally, and that number could jump to 250 by the end of 2013. Chris Pearson, 4G Americas president, said that Canada and the United States continue to outpace the world in the number of LTE connections with a hefty 57% of all LTE connections.
In Colombia, UNE-EPM President Marc Eichmann, told Convergencialatina that the company will launch fixed telephony and broadband services soon using its LTE network. With these new services, the company seeks to surpass 100,000 subscribers.
Wi-Fi expansion in Brazil—América Móvil’s Brazilian units of Claro, Embratel and Net joined in an effort to expand their Wi-Fi networks to 6,000 hotspots in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Campinas, Brasília, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Recife and Salvador. Together, the telecom operators have invested a total of $50 million, including spending on infrastructure, equipment and hotspots. The initiative aims to complement LTE offerings and offload 3G traffic.
In a recent interview with RCR Wireless News, Linktel president, Jonas Trunk, commented about Wi-Fi growth in Brazil. Linktel plans to have a total of 3,000 Wi-Fi hotspots by the time of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, increasing this number to 10,000 by 2016 when Rio de Janeiro will host the Olympics Games.
Brazil’s Oi also reported it now has 80,000 Wi-Fi hotspots throughout Brazil.
Senior notes: NII Holdings said it intends to offer approximately $500 million principal amount of senior notes due 2019 to qualified institutional buyers. NII intends to use the net proceeds from the note offering to fund the full payment of its Mexico bank loan and repay a portion of one of its Brazil bank loans.
MVNO: Colombia’s Grupo Éxito has launched services as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). Following other MVNO operators Uff! Móvil, ETB and Une, Éxito has partnered with Tigo and will use Tigo’s networks. Initially, Éxito will offer voice, data and messaging only under a prepaid model. According to Carlos Mario Giraldo Moreno, Éxito president, the new MVNO won’t focus its offering on competing on price basis.
Strategic alliance: Cable & Wireless Communications has agreed to a strategic alliance with Columbus Networks to develop its international wholesale capacity business. They will form a joint venture in the pan-America region which will provide international wholesale capacity to both companies as well as to third party carriers.
Revoked: Claro had its concession to operate pay-TV services through satellite technology (DTH) revoked by the national government of Uruguay. President José Mujica alleged that the concession, which was previously awarded by telecom regulator Ursec, was not legitimate. Claro was hoping to launch pay-TV services in the coming months.
More news from Latin America:
- Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM) is extending the reach of its Ingram Micro Mobility services and solutions capabilities with the opening of a new facility in Costa Rica. The facility will further support Ingram Micro Mobility’s growing business in Latin America.
- Four Colombian carriers, Movistar, UNE, ETB and Tigo, have joined together to optimize their investments. They will advance a joint initiative for the construction and deployment of infrastructure and networks to make better use of resources with the goal of realizing technological advances to benefit Colombians and strengthen the competitive environment.
- Equinix announced that GlobeNet, an international wholesale provider of submarine capacity and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oi, has extended its low latency network into Equinix’s MI3 International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center in Boca Raton, Florida. GlobeNet’s expansion into Equinix’s MI3 data center opens the fastest IP traffic route from the United States to Brazil.
Be sure not to miss what’s happening in Latin America’s wireless markets. Check out RCR Wireless News wrap ups.
