Claro, the Brazilian unit of América Móvil, is expanding its LTE coverage, announcing the launch of LTE services in the city of Curitiba in southern Brazil. Claro was the first carrier to launch LTE services in the country. In Brazil, LTE is deployed in the 2.5 GHz spectrum band.
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Claro first launched LTE services in Brazil in December, starting with the cities of Recife, Campos do Jordão (SP), Paraty and Buzios (RJ). Commercially branded as 4GMax, the service is offered as part of phone and modem chip packages.
In addition to the arrival of LTE services in Curitiba, Claro also announced that it will start selling the Samsung Tab Note 10.1 and Galaxy Note 2 in March. Currently, the company’s LTE services can be accessed using the Motorola RAZR HD, Samsung Galaxy SIII 4G and the Huawei E392 modem.
Brazil’s LTE journey began last year, following the spectrum band auction on June 12 when the four biggest Brazilian telecom companies secured licenses. Since then, the carriers have conducted pilot projects, and Claro launched its LTE services.
According to telecom regulator Anatel’s roadmap, the authorization terms to use radio frequencies in the 2500 MHz to 2690 MHz sub-band and radio frequency of 451 MHz to 458 MHz and 461 MHz to 468 MHz was signed on October 16, 2012.
All municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants must be covered by LTE networks by December 31, 2016. The cities that will host the FIFA Confederations Cup must be covered by April 30, 2013. By December 31, 2015, rural areas up to 30 km from the headquarters of all Brazilian municipalities must have coverage in the 450 MHz band with voice and data services.
Latin American LTE roll-outs
Two other carriers said they have expanded LTE services in the Latin American region. In Puerto Rico, the U.S.-based telecom operator Sprint Nextel announced that it has improved 3G services and expanded LTE in the country with the goal of reaching more customers. Puerto Rico was a pioneer in launching LTE services in 2011 in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
Colombia’s public telecom operator, UNE EPM, also announced it was investing U.S.$2.5 million to launch LTE services in the city of Barranquilla. The investment will be used to install radio base stations, fiber optics and transmitters. With this investment, UNE plans to provide coverage for the entire city rapidly—currently 68% of the city is covered by UNE’s services.
The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) counts 13 operators from eight countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that have launched LTE services.
