After several delays, the deployment of LTE in Chile is about to begin. Claro, Entel and Movistar, which won access to spectrum, were confirmed by the country’s Comptroller General.
Private carriers are set to invest $700 million to deploy the next generation of telecommunications services using the 700 MHz band. Of this total, about $300 million will be invested in the infrastructure. The amount of $700 million comprises a larger investment plan: The telecom industry has committed to invest a total of $22 billion over the next 10 years to improve and enhance its services across the country.
According to the rules of the auctions, carriers that won the licenses must deploy LTE in rural areas and the service in these regions cannot cost more than the price charged in the main cities.
Poles x telcos 
TelComp, the Brazilian association of telecom providers, is conducting a project aimed at organizing the use of the electricity poles by communications service providers. Currently, each pole hosts six entries for the carriers to hang infrastructure, such as cable and fiber. According to the rules, each major communication group can use only one spot. In an interview with RCR Wireless News, TelComp’s President João Moura noted that the competitive carriers, usually small and niche companies, fail to get an access point to connect their infrastructure. In addition, there’s a lack of maintenance of the poles and in several poles the cables are in a dangerous situation.
The pilot project will begin in a small area of the city of São Paulo where there’s a huge concentration of poles. TelComp is going to identify which carrier is using the pole and count how many spots it’s using to check if it’s is accordance with the rules. The association will also test some technologies to increase the number of carriers that can use the same spot. Moura believes that by the first quarter of 2016 the project will be completed and the association will have tested technologies and improved the use of electricity poles by the telecom industry.
More Latin American news:
LATAM – Ericsson announced its plan to acquire the assets of Icon Americas, a Guatemala-based consulting and systems integration company that has approximately 250 employees and consultants. The acquisition, which is expected to close in the third quarter, will help Ericsson expand its portfolio of consulting and systems integration services and OSS/BSS solutions in Latin America.
BRAZIL – TIM announced that it’s expanding the coverage of its LTE services in the state of São Paulo. According to the company, after the inclusion of more areas, the carrier will count 17 municipalities covered with 4G.
CHILE – VTR’s revenue increased 7% in the second quarter of 2015 in comparison to the same period last year.
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