Broadband spectrum auction rules to be posted on July 17
Mexico is getting ready to auction 700 MHz spectrum bands. Local media outlet El Financiero reported that the Ministry of Communications and Transport plans to publish the preliminary bidding conditions for the country’s 700 MHz spectrum auction on July 17.
SCT expects to launch the auction Oct. 29. The winner is expected to be announced before the end of the first quarter of 2016 with the LTE networks to be deployed by the second half of next year.
The LTE landscape in Brazil
LTE coverage is expanding in Brazil. By May, 159 towns, including all state capitals and municipalities with 500,000 inhabitants, had access to LTE services, according to Teleco.
The consulting firm released the map below showing current LTE coverage and the cities that are expected to be covered with LTE services by December 2016.
Within 18 months, LTE networks are expected to be available to 56.3% of Brazil’s population as part requirements telecom operators committed to ahead of the 2.5 GHz auction that took place in 2012. Currently, 43% of the population is covered with LTE services.
LTE services running on the 700 MHz band are expected to begin rolling out over the next year, as it’s still necessary to clear the spectrum occupied by television broadcasters. The timeline calls for 52 municipalities to have LTE services running across the 700 MHz band by 2017, and 197 municipalities by the end of 2018.
Overall, the adoption of LTE has been quicker than 3G technology, in part due to less expensive smartphone prices.
Tax increase: Brazilian telecommunication union SindiTelebrasil has been making clear its position against the increase of telecom tax Fistel. As pointed out by the government, Fistel could rise by 189%, which would have a strong impact in the final telecom prices for customers.
The union believes mobile phone prices could go up by 20%. While there is no decision yet, Minister of Communications Ricardo Berzoini, told the press that it’s likely the government could impose the increase, but he avoided comment on quantifying an exact tax increase.
More news from the Latin American region:
Bolivia – Telecom operators Entel, Tigo and Viva are set to invest about $560 million this year mostly focused on deploying fiber optic networks.
Colombia – Motorola Solutions conducted a public safety demonstration using LTE technology. The demonstration was aimed at showing the use of LTE solutions for mission-critical communications.
U.S. – NII Holdings had its first amended plan of reorganization approved by a bankruptcy court. NII Holdings, which operates under the Nextel brand, recently sold its Mexican business for $1.875 billion to AT&T and converted $4.35 billion of the debtors’ pre-petition notes into reorganized NII common stock and cash.
Cuba – Government telecom operator Etecsa announced it will open 35 Wi-Fi hot spot zones and reduce its Internet connecting rate by 44%.
LatAm – Telefónica tapped VPIsystems as supplier of network planning and design for Latin America and Germany. The solution will integrate the carrier’s transport network optimization program.
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