BARCELONA, Spain — Latin America’s upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction and the expected expansion of LTE deployments and coverage is set to drive discussion about the region. With operators having invested almost $8 billion in spectrum licenses over the past three years, mostly tied to deployment of 4G networks, GSMA Intelligence predicts that the fourth generation of telecommunications will be available for 76% of the population by 2020. By the end of 2014, LTE networks covered 35% of the region’s population from a total of 57 LTE networks across 22 Latin American countries.
During this week’s Mobile World Congress event, GSMA head of Latin America Sebastián Cabello commented on the contribution mobile telecommunications services in the region had on gross domestic product, which is expected to increase from 4.1% in 2013 ($242 billion) to 4.5% by 2020 ($275 billion). Although telecom operators contribute the most to GDP, some new sectors, such as content application, are flourishing.
This year is set to be pivotal for mobile deployments across Latin America. According to the GSMA, unique mobile subscribers (which are different from total mobile connections as it excludes machine-to-machine and people who have more than one line) posted a 52% penetration rate last year and counted 327 million subscribers. The prediction is that this number will increase to 390 million subscribers by 2020, with total connection set to hit 890 million.
Cabello also highlighted the importance of mobile broadband in pushing forward the region’s quest to expand broadband access.
“There’s a huge contribution from the mobile industry to Latin America,” Cabello said. “Carriers are aware of their duty to contribute to the digital inclusion.”
In addition, mobile operators are involved with mobile banking initiatives, which are expected to touch so-called unbanked people who fall outside of the traditional financial system. Latin America currently counts 36 m-banking projects.
Another aspect of expanded access to digital services through mobile is the increase in smartphone penetration. Currently, the average rate in the region is 31%. On the other side, as the adoption of smartphones increase, carriers are growing more concerned about how to monetize their network investments. GSMA expects data traffic across Latin America to hit 15.9 exabytes in 2018.
Editor’s Note: Celistics paid for travel costs to Barcelona.
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