Cisco has opened a center of innovation in Rio de Janeiro. The center will integrate Cisco’s portfolio with technology from local players to create solutions that meet the needs of the Brazilian market. During the ceremony, Robert Lloyd, Cisco’s president for development and sales, highlighted the company’s vision for the next wave of innovation: the Internet of everything.
Lloyd noted that this is the first innovation center of its kind in the world. “We are very committed to the government’s agenda to drive growth, education and job creation,” Lloyd said. “This center of innovation is unique. We’re inviting local partners to create new things. This center can be crucial for the entire Latin American region.”
Rodrigo Dienstmann, president of Cisco Brazil, told the audience at the opening ceremony (see video here) that the center is very important to Cisco, and it demonstrates how the company is committed to its innovation agenda.
Dienstmann explained that the innovation center will focus efforts on developing local solutions in strategic areas, such as public security, sports and entertainment, smart cities, smart management of energy, and the oil and gas industry.
Spectrum—A report posted by 4G Americas, and independently researched and authored by Jose Otero, evaluated the current status of spectrum available in 19 Latin American countries compared to the International Telecommunications Union recommendations to accommodate the surge in mobile network traffic by the year 2015.
The study’s findings showed that only 20% of the ITU’s target spectrum allocation for 2015 has been met in the Latin America region overall, resulting in a tremendous shortfall of available spectrum. By 2015, most Latin American countries will be 50% below the ITU recommended spectrum allocation.
Emerging markets—Ovum predicts that the next wave of mobile Internet users will come from urban areas in emerging markets, boosted by the lack of fixed Internet infrastructure. Therefore, the consultant firm advised that operators and content providers should step up to help the next billion progress to a smarter mobile Internet experience.
Ovum’s research also showed that while the installed base of smartphones accounted for just more than 20% in emerging markets at the end of 2012, it will reach nearly 50% by 2017, which translates into more than two billion devices. As the fastest-growing segment within overall devices, smartphones will be a critical driver of increased mobile Internet use across emerging markets.
More news from the Latin American market:
- The Brazilian Post Office (Correios) is planning a mobile virtual network operator to gather 5 million users over four years. The MVNO services are expected to be launched in the third quarter of 2014.
- Mobile lines in São Paulo state countryside in Brazil will have one more digit added, a move that follows the earlier number addition in the state capital.
- Venezuelan state-owned bank, Banco de Venezuela, has launched a mobile banking initiative which will allow its clients to make transfers using smartphones and tablets.
- Latin America currently has 25 commercial LTE networks in 12 countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Venezuela. There were more than 165,000 LTE connections as of June 2013.
- IBM Peru announced the opening of an $8 million data center at the Technology Campus of La Molina. The data center was built to meet the increasing demand for information technology services in Peru.
- Sercomtel launched an ultra-high speed 200 Mbps broadband service via optical fiber in Londrina in southern Brazil.
- Liberty Global, which owns 80% of VTR, informed the Security Exchange Commission that it is exploring various alternatives for VTR’s MVNO operation, including the ability to stop operating its network during the last quarter of this year.
- Dish Puerto Rico and Claro have introduced a bundled offer for consumers on the island, including pay-TV, broadband and voice.
- América Móvil announced that it has secured the necessary funds for its offer to buy all ordinary shares in KPN it does not yet own, under the intended voluntary public offer. América Móvil will submit the offer memorandum to the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets.
- NII Holdings completed the previously announced sale of its Peruvian operations to Entel for an aggregate value of $410.6 million.
Be sure not to miss what’s happening in Latin America’s wireless markets. Check out RCR Wireless News wrap ups.