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.
The Dominance of Slim Comes Under Question in Mexico
February 11th, 2011
Scrutinizing Slim: At the end of the day, is his dominant firm – Telmex – hurting or helping Mexico’s competitiveness?
By Matias Maciel
Does the wide-bodied presence of Mexican telephone giant Telmex hurt the competitiveness of the country’s ICT market? Even if the businesses of the Carso Group – the global conglomerate owned by Carlos Slim – are not technically a monopoly, the specter of this dominance is apparent in virtually every part of the telecom services delivery chain in Mexico.
Slim might reject the claim that Telmex is a monopoly. However, it will be difficult for the Mexican tycoon to ever free himself of the “Mr. Monopoly” nickname as The Wall Street Journal labeled him in an article published in August 2007 here. With over 200 companies under his control at that time – including telecommunications, cigarettes, 
construction, mining, bicycles, soft-drinks, airlines, hotels, railways, banking and printing – the newspaper pointed out it that was difficult to spend one day in Mexico and not contribute to Mr. Slim’s pockets.
Latin America ICT: Strong Growth Expected in Telecoms and Software
January 24th, 2011IDC Latin America has published its forecast for the ICT market in the region in 2011, forecasting a growth of 6.3 percent over the previous year, representing total spending of USD 74 billion in 2011.
The software business will grow even more, 8.2 percent and, hardware 4.7 percent. Cloud computing should bring in over USD 200 million in 2011, with significant annual growth forecast at around 60 percent annually over the next five years until 2015. Social platforms, worth USD 50 million in 2010, will double this year.
According to IDC, in 2009 only one in 15 phones sold were smartphones, in 2011 this ratio will reach five to one. By 2014, the market is moving towards a ratio of a smartphone for every two ordinary phones. The smart phone market is set to grow 70 percent this year. IDC …
By Acquiring Costa Rica Wireless Licenses, Telefonica and America Movil Break Monopoly
January 10th, 2011Costa Rica has seriously lagged the rest of Latin America in liberalizing its ICT market. In fact, in a recent Nearshore Americas interview with President Laura Chinchilla, the president pointed out that Costa Rica must continue to strengthen its capacity to compete on the world stage and a key part of that growth depends on a more open telecom market.
After years of lobbying and political maneuvering, SUTEL – the country’s dominate ICT player – is finally going to be forced to compete against at least two foreign mobile entrants: Telefonica and America Movil. A recent post from Telegeography offers more details on the recent bids for licenses.
Telegeography reports: Costa Rica’s telecoms regulator Sutel has awarded wireless licences to Spain’s Telefonica and Mexico’s America Movil, ending Grupo ICE’s monopoly of the sector. Telefonica put its highest bid at USD95 million, ahead of America Movil’s USD77 million, …
Peru ICT: ChinaTel Bets Big on WiMAX
December 29th, 2010ChinaTel plans to invest USD62 million to offer services including internet protocol telephony over a new WiMAX network in Peru, via its subsidiary Perusat.
The first section of the project will be launched by around August 2011 and cover the provinces of Trujillo, Chiclayo Chimbote. In the south, the WiMAX system will be installed in Ica, Arequipa and Cusco and in the centre of the country in Huanuco. Ryan Alvarez, vice president of strategic planning, said ChinaTel has made use of a combination of wireless technologies in order to keep debts at a minimum. He noted that while the company has a small credit facility, it avoided the need for spending hundreds of millions on building fibre networks. It has also made use of acquisitions and joint ventures as a way to secure licences. In Peru, ChinaTel bought 95% of Perusat, which holds a set of 2.5GHz licences. In …
Latin America Broadband is Growing Faster than China or India
December 3rd, 2010Latin America is set for faster growth in fixed broadband penetration than even China or India over the next four years, according to a report from research group Analysys Mason.
The report “Fixed Broadband: Worldwide Forecast 2010-2015,” predicts a compound annual growth rate of 15.4 percent for broadband in Latin America over the next few years, which is more than any other region. However, Asia Pacific will witness a greater number of new lines on account of its higher population, reaching 250 million there by 2015.
This is a case of a sleeping giant awakening. The region was slow initially to adopt the internet, accounting for just 8 percent of the global online population in April 2010. But Latin America was already the world’s fastest growing region for online penetration, climbing 22 percent from April 2009 largely through broadband deployment. …
Robust Growth Ahead for CALA Telecoms, Triggering More M&A
August 31st, 2010Data from TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Insight Research Service project that telecom service revenue in Latin America and the Caribbean will grow from $122 billion in 2009 to $143 billion in 2014, led by the wireless sector. That signals a good growth opportunity for carriers in the region, as well as those looking to buy stakes in existing operators.
Telecom revenue in Brazil, Latin America’s largest market, will top $55 billion in 2014, followed by Mexico, with $25 billion, and Venezuela, at $13 billion. Brazil is growing revenue at 39 percent and Mexico at 17 percent. Venezuela is a distant third, at 9 percent.
Total mobile revenues are projected to grow just over 4 percent annually, while revenues from fixed-line (broadband and voice) services will grow just over 2 percent annually. Revenues will be driven by wireless and broadband subscriber annual …
