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LatAm: Brazil telcos jump into big data; Netflix at 4.8M subs

by Roberta Prescott
written by Roberta Prescott Share
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Big data solution adoptions in Brazil are being driven by telecom operators and the financial industry. Carlos Cunha, country manager for EMC Brazil, said at a press conference that big data projects increased this year in the country, but the lack of qualified professionals is still a barrier to the expansion of big data implementations.

EMC named three carriers as current customers: Vivo, TIM and Net.

According to Cunha, the main focus of big data projects remains on mining internal data because “there is a lot to be done in this area.”

“Brazil is not in the stage of creating disruptive applications as a result of big data projects. Companies are still focusing on cost reductions and increasing the understanding and knowledge of their customers,” he told RCR Wireless News.

The EMC Global Data Protection Index showed that worldwide, 64% of telecoms suffered data loss or unplanned downtime in the last 12 months.

Netflix international numbers climbing

Netflix is expected to achieve 17 million paying subscribers in its international operations by the end of 2014, according to a new study by Digital TV Research. Brazil had 2.17 million subscribers in September, the largest share in Latin America, followed by Mexico (1.2 million), Colombia (535,000), Argentina (480,000) and Chile (230,000). In total, Latin America had 4.85 million Netflix subscribers.

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Public Wi-Fi in Chile

The Chilean government has begun the third and final phase of a project aimed at providing free Internet access across the country. The government opened a contest to place public Wi-Fi hot spots in nine regions, and 14 enterprises presented a total of 24 proposals. According to the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Andrés Gómez-Lobo, the goal is to bridge the digital divide and facilitate citizen access to the knowledge society.

In the first phase of the project, called “WiFi ChileGob,” three concessions for public service data were released for the regions of Aysen, Los Lagos and Los Rios, providing 196 points of free Internet access. In the project’s second phase, three other concessions were granted to the regions of O’Higgins, Maule and Araucanía for a total 416 connection points in 104 locations.

More Latin American news:

BRAZIL – Oi confirmed that it is in negotiations to sell its Portugal Telecom assets to Luxembourg-based Altice.

COLOMBIA – UNE EPM Telecomunicaciones decided to cede 50 megahertz of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band to a third party as part of the conditions imposed by the anti-trust regulator SIC for approval of UNE EPM’s merger with Millicom’s Tigo.

PERU – The government will take bids on three blocks of spectrum in the 698-806 MHz band. The auction is expected to take place over the first quarter of next year.

BRAZIL – Oi closed on the sale of 1,641 broadcast towers to SBA Torres Brasil Ltda for $458 million (R$1.172 billion). The deal was first announced in June.

MEXICO – The telecom industry is going through a revenue shift, moving from voice to data. In mid-2013, voice revenue accounted for 50% of total revenue and decreased to 44.1% in the third quarter of 2014 according to the consultant firm CIU.

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BRAZIL – According to consulting firm IDC, the Brazilian ICT market grew by 8.7% from the second half of 2013 through the first half of 2014, compared to the previous 12-month period.

COSTA RICA – The country’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications is preparing to present the final version of its telecommunications plan in February. A draft was presented this week – the current plan is valid until Dec. 31, 2015.

BOLIVIA – Entel, Tigo and Cotas are planning to invest $100 million to expand their fiber optic networks in 2015 to cover intermediate cities with high-speed Internet and increase telephony quality for their users.

ECUADOR – President Rafael Correa Delgado evaluated the past achievements of the country’s telecommunication industry, pointing out that the fiber optic network grew 10x since 2006 from 3,500 km to 35,000 km. Currently, 72% of Ecuador’s citizens have access to the Internet.

BRAZIL – Fortaleza, the capital of Ceara state, is the Brazilian entry point for several underwater cables. Because of its location, the city wants to become a hub of Internet traffic for Latin America and host a larger number of data centers.

Wondering what’s going on in Latin America? Why don’t you follow me on Twitter? Also check out all of RCR Wireless News’ Latin American content.

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Editor, [email protected] Roberta Prescott is responsible for Latin America reporting news and analysis, interviewing key stakeholders. Roberta has worked as an IT and telecommunication journalist since March 2005, when she started as a reporter with InformationWeek Brasil magazine and its website IT Web. In July 2006, Prescott was promoted to be the editor-in-chief, and, beyond the magazine and website, was in charge for all ICT products, such as IT events and CIO awards. In mid-2010, she was promoted to the position of executive editor, with responsibility for all the editorial products and content of IT Mídia. Prescott has worked as a journalist since 1998 and has three journalism prizes. In 2009, she won, along with InformationWeek Brasil team, the press prize 11th Prêmio Imprensa Embratel. In 2008, she won the 7th Unisys Journalism Prize and in 2006 was the editor-in-chief when InformationWeek Brasil won the 20th media award Prêmio Veículos de Comunicação. She graduated in Journalism by the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, has done specialization in journalism at the Universidad de Navarra (Spain, 2003) and Master in Journalism at IICS – Universidad de Navarra (Brazil, 2010) and MBA – Executive Education at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

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