Latin America ‘Weak’ Infrastructure Starts to Get a Major Facelift
February 3rd, 2012
Peru, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Colombia drive forward with big projects
By Clayton Browne
Latin America has long been considered a laggard in terms of global infrastructure development, but that perception should be changing. Countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Puerto Rico have all begun major long-term infrastructure projects ranging from roads to dams to telecommunications towers to airports. Infrastructure development in the areas of energy, transportation and telecommunications have seen the greatest recent growth, with estimates ranging as high as $450 billion, to be spent on infrastructure in the area between 2011 and 2015.
Orange to Upgrade Telecom in Latin America
August 31st, 2011Source: TMCnet.com
France Telecom’s subsidiary Orange is gearing up to upgrade its telecom network across the Latin America as part of its plans to expand its supplementary services such as high-speed broadband, MPLS, international Ethernet link and telepresence.
The upgrading is likely to increase its network capacity by ten times meeting the needs of its multinational enterprise customers in the region.
The decision to upgrade the network comes after the carrier unveiled its plans to generate $1.4 billion in emerging markets in 2015.
The drive to increase network capacity will begin in October 2011 and may cover many countries including Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Panama, the operator stated in a press release.
The network upgrading program aims to connect Latin America to the East Coast of the United States via Brazil and to the West Coast of the United States via Chile. The upgrade will enhance quality of service for customers with …
In Chile, Telecom Competition Heating Up
August 1st, 2011SANTIAGO — 2010 was the year Chile moved into telecommunications. The GTD Group acquired 96.4% of Telefónica del Sur, $115 million; in August the channel Chilevisión (until then controlled by President Sebastián Piñera) was sold to international group Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) for $150 million. Shortly before the Roman Catholic Church had sold part of its property in Canal 13 (67%) for $55 million to the Luksic family. And Group Saieh (Corpbanca and Copesa) bought 20% of VTR for $300 million.
The two main players in mobile telephony, Entel and Movistar, renewed their brands, while the operator of paid TV and Internet VTR and Nextel France prepare to enter to compete in the area. The adoption of the law on number portability in 2010 and its imminent entry into operation at the end of this year is making the Chilean ITC scene more competitive than in previous …
NEW YORK — Capgemini, one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, today announced the results of its third annual Executive Outsourcing Survey, which explores the perceptions and use of social media within customer care operations defined as all aspects of customer interaction management within the enterprise.
The survey revealed that social media has become a critical tool for customer care across industries, as over half of senior executives (52 percent) indicated that social media is currently a part of their company’s customer care operations, and 57 percent indicated they are aware that their company is currently monitoring online conversations. Thirty-six percent of executives say their company currently measures the value of its social media program for customer care, which is surprising given how relatively new social media is as a method to enhance customer care operations.
The survey, commissioned by Capgemini and …
Chile’s Entel Claims Fastest Broadband Network in Latin America
July 18th, 2011Latin America’s fastest broadband network is being launched by the Chilean market leader Entel. Based on HSPA Evolution technology from Ericsson, the network will allow peak data rates of 42Mbps.
Increasing use of smartphones and advanced mobile applications has caused a surge in data traffic across Entel’s network. The dual carrier HSPA tech increases network capacity, supporting new revenue streams for operators by enabling internet browsing via mobile.
The operator will provide commercial plans with a maximum speed of 22 Mbps, with download speeds averaging at 6 Mbps. Entel’s CEO Antonio Büchi described the DC-HSPA+ network as “the most advanced mobile broadband network in the country”.
Nicolas Brancoli, Vice President of Unit Pacific for Ericsson in Latin America, said: “[We have] delivered tremendous high-speed broadband services to the Chilean market. With the successful introduction of mobile broadband and smartphones on the market, network modernisation has become key for operators …
Source: Ottawa Business Journal
One of Peru’s major wireless carriers is looking for partners in Ottawa’s telecom sector to support the rollout of the South American nation’s largest 3G networks. Representatives from Nextel Peru, the third-largest mobile operator in that country, were in Ottawa this month to meet with local firms and explore potential business relationships.
During the two-day visit, Nextel officials also toured facilities at DragonWave Inc., EION, TenXc, and the University of Ottawa. “We view these initiatives as good introductions to markets and new customers,” said Greg Friesen, vice-president of product development at DragonWave Inc. “(Nextel Peru) is a strong target of ours.”
Nextel Peru spent US$125 million upgrading to a 3G network, becoming the first subsidiary of U.S.-based NII Holdings to do so. Since its beginnings in the Peruvian market in 1998, Nextel’s two-way digital radio technology has made its product popular in corporate and government circles, giving …
Fixed broadband connections grew slowly in Chile during 2010, according to the just-released Cisco Broadband Barometer. As a result Chile has lost its leadership in the penetration of broadband technology in Latin America, which the country had held for eight years, ever since the Broadband Barometer started.
According to the report, fixed broadband connections grew 8.1 percent during 2010, adding 138,700 new connections, for a total of 1.82 million subscriptions. Mobile broadband grew 96.5 percent, for a total of 1.02 million connections, as of last December.
Highlights
* According to the report, issued by the research firm IDC, fixed broadband in Chile is growing slowly because it is at the second stage of expansion: into rural areas and populations with lower incomes. In addition, some segments of the population still lack knowledge about the benefits of broadband Internet connectivity.
* In the second half of last year, Chile added …
SAO PAULO — Alcatel-Lucent has announced the opening of a world-class technology showcase center in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The center will highlight a range of advanced technologies and applications – including 4G LTE, video applications, cloud and location-based services – to help Brazilian fixed and mobile service providers respond to the challenges created by the mobile data explosion occurring across their networks. The investment is a further example of Alcatel-Lucent’s commitment to Brazil, already a strategic partner of the major service providers in the country and across the region.
The center occupies nearly 15,400 square feet of space in the company’s premises in Sao Paulo, and will receive visitors from Brazil and other countries in Latin America. It features executive meeting rooms with full videoconference capability to host customers and help them to experience the world of technologies available in the center.
“Brazil is one of the fastest growing …
BUENOS AIRES — South American governments plan to spend billions of dollars in the next few years to bring high-speed internet access to under-served communities in order to narrow the so-called digital divide between rich and poor.
Argentina has slated $2 billion to develop a government-run broadband network, while Brazil has resuscitated state telecom company Telebras (TBH, TELB4.BR) to bring connectivity to remote regions. Meanwhile, tiny Uruguay is offering a free, if somewhat slow, broadband connection to anyone with a phone line.
“We don’t want to market this as: how easy, how fast, how fun. We want to transmit values,” Carolina Cosse, the president of Uruguay’s state phone company, Antel, said Monday at a conference in Buenos Aires.
In Uruguay, Antel provides all fixed-line phone services and is a major player in mobile telephony, where it competes with private companies.
But the challenges are far greater in the case of …
What does Venezuela have to offer? The slowest and most expensive broadband in the region.
By Paul Budde
Venezuela was the only country in South and Central America to experience negative GDP growth in 2010. The six-quarter-long recession has been blamed on falling oil prices, reduced oil production, severe drought followed by floods, sky-high inflation, capital flight, currency depreciation, nationalisations, foreign currency regulations, and an unfavourable environment for private business and investment.
