SAO PAULO – No matter who becomes Brazil’s next president after the Oct. 26 runoff election, the agenda to universalize Internet broadband must move forward, according to Paulo Bernardo, Brazil’s minister of communications. Bernardo used his speech before a full audience at …
Roberta Prescott
Roberta Prescott
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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Mexico’s telecommunications regulator, IFT, has imposed a $3.69 million fine on fixed-line operator Telmex for monopolistic practices in long-distance services. IFT said Telmex committed a serious infraction by ignoring competitor Axtel’s requests to interconnect with its network. The carrier also did …
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As opposed to the country’s 2.5 GHz spectrum auction, Brazil’s 700 MHz auction had almost no premium over the set minimum prices and the government raised much less than it expected. Also, the proceedings resulted in no new entrants into …
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In the wake of Telefónica’s acquisition of GVT in Brazil, mobile operator Oi said it won’t bid in the country’s upcoming 700 MHz frequency band auction. Brazilian carriers had until Sept. 23 to present their proposals for the auction, which is set to begin Sept. …
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SHANGHAI — Huawei’s enterprise unit was formed just three years ago, but the Chinese company has big ambitions for the unit. The company has set a target of $10 billion in revenues by 2017, a significant increase compared to the …
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Shanghai — The U.S. market remains a focus for Huawei, although the U.S. government has labeled the Chinese giant IT and telecommunications company as a security threat. The main driver to grow in the U.S. market relies on the enterprise …
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A flurry of potential acquisitions in Brazil has resulted in two competing operators, Oi and TIM Brasil, each considering bids to buy the other. First, there is the ongoing battle for Vivendi’s Brazilian unit, GVT. Telefónica raised its offer for GVT …
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SHANGHAI — Huawei has set a target for its recently launched enterprise business to become the leader in the IT infrastructure field. “We are leveraging our strength to the IT field,” said Eric Xu, rotating CEO and deputy chairman of …
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SHANGHAI — Germany came out on top in a new ranking of national information and communications technology competitiveness, according to a report released by Huawei at this week’s Cloud Congress in Shanghai. The report pointed to Germany’s strong commitment and …
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América Móvil, which owns Claro, NET and Embratel in Brazil, confirmed its interest in making a common offer with the carrier Oi to acquire the operator TIM Brasil. Oi has already released a material fact announcing that it has engaged Banco BTG Pactual to …
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Brazil’s government has approved a tax break program that exempts companies from several federal taxes related to investment in telecommunications networks. A total of 1,400 projects are expected to fall under the tax relief program, totaling almost U.S.$2.67 billion (R$6 billion) …
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LatAm: Vivendi in talks with Telefonica to sell Brazil's GVT; Oi hires BTG Pactual, seeks to buy TIM
UPDATED: The future of Brazil’s telecom market has become complicated by several potential, competing acquisition offers. Nearly everyone expects some kind of market consolidation, but how it will happen is not yet clear. Over the past few weeks, French company Vivendi has fielded …
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NII Holdings has remained in the headlines in Latin America ever since it announced a likely bankruptcy last week. On August 15, the company, which operates under the Nextel brand in Latin America, said it has elected not to pay approximately $118.8 million in interest due …
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NII Holdings, which operates in Latin America under the Nextel brand, announced it will likely file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because it cannot fulfill its financial obligations. Following the announcement, NII Holdings’ shares plummeted. According to the filing, the mobile phone carrier has …
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The greater the number of competitors, the better for the user, said Brazil’s minister of communications, Paulo Bernardo, to members of the press this week. Those comments came on the heels of Telefónica’s bid to buy Vivendi’s Brazilian unit GVT. Telefónica hopes to combine …
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In a new twist to the changing Mexican telecom market, Telefónica is reportedly in talks to acquire Grupo Iusacell, a deal that could be worth up to $4 billion, according to local newspaper El Confidencial. Rumors have been circulating since early June that the two were considering a …
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América Móvil is suffering the consequences of new Mexican anti-trust rules that forbid telecom companies from controlling more than 50% of the market. The Financial Times noted that América Móvil is feeling the pain of the new regulations as its second-quarter earnings showed a 9% …
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Now that the FIFA World Cup has ended, carriers and observers are evaluating how the mobile networks performed during the tournament. While the National Union of Fixed and Mobile Telecom Companies of Brazil (SindiTelebrasil) claimed that 2G, 3G and LTE coverage performed beyond expectations and that …
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América Móvil has decided sell some of its assets to comply with Mexico’s new anti-trust telecom rules that forbid companies from controlling more than 50% of the market. On July 8, América Móvil issued a statement announcing that its board has analyzed several …
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Mexico’s senate is scheduled to hold a special session to debate additional laws to the country’s new telecommunications regulations designed to curb the market dominance of companies owned by billionaire Carlos Slim. The session is set to begin July 4. In a related move, the country’s …
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NII Holdings is reportedly selling its Nextel operations in Chile and Argentina. According to the Argentinean newspaper La Nación, two Argentinian businessmen, Matías Garfunkel and Sergio Szpolski, the owners Grupo Veintitres, are close to buying the mobile phone service for about $250 million. …
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Before the FIFA World Cup began, Brazilian telecom union SindiTelebrasil said that the operators’ networks were ready to handle the increased data and voice traffic, and during the first week of the tournament the wireless performance was closely watched. During the first games in each …
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The FIFA World Cup begins today in Brazil, starting with a match between the host country and Croatia in São Paulo at the Arena Corinthians. Around 600,000 foreign tourists are expected to arrive in Brazil for the World Cup, and …
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Chile’s secretary of telecommunications (Subtel) ordered telecom operators to end promotions that offer free access to social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, starting June 1. According to Subtel, the promotions violate the country’s Neutrality Act. The Neutrality Act states that …
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The use of the AWS spectrum band (1700/2100 MHz) for LTE mobile services in Latin America is expected to have a huge positive economic impact, according to a recently released study by GSMA. The report also found that the spectrum band is key …