Tag Archives: Chile

Movistar Chile to launch IPTV service in March

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Movistar will launch IPTV services in Chile in March. The service will be provided in combination with the operator’s Banda Ancha Premium service with speeds of up to 40 Mbps, Diario Financiero reports, citing unnamed company sources.

Movistar’s IPTV service will initially be available in the Santiago capital area, to be gradually expanded across the country. Subscribers will receive a set top box with the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, which allows users to store 250 GB of content and record movies and series. Subscribers will be able to access around 300 channels in SD and HD format.

Chilean antitrust regulator suspends Entel-GTD merger

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Chilean antitrust agency FNE (Fiscalia Nacional Economica) has submitted for consultation to the Tribunal for the Defence of Free Competition (TDLC) the proposed merger of domestic operators GTD and Entel.

At end-November 2011, Chilean operator Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Entel), controlled by Almendral Telecomunicaciones, announced plans to acquire GTD Manquehue via an all-share merger. According to a TDLC statement, the FNE identified “various risks to free competition in the telecommunications markets where the two companies operate,” and called for measures to mitigate this. FNE says the combined company would concentrate, in some regions, up to three quarters of the spectrum allocated in the 3.4–3.6 MHz frequency bands.

Moreover, the merger would result in Entel having a signed MVNO contract with Movistar. This contract would be superfluous as both Entel and Movistar own mobile networks, and may generate coordination issues, the FNE added. Interested parties have 20 days to submit their comments and opinions related to the Entel-GTD deal. The merger is suspended until the TDLC releases its decision related to the deal.

Chile Bans SIM Locking of Mobile Phones

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The Chilean telecoms regulator, Subtel has passed a regulation requiring mobile networks to unlock mobile phones at no charge to the customer.

The regulation also required networks to stop SIM-locking handsets in future.

Department of Telecommunications Minister, Pedro Pablo Errázuriz said that this is to be the “year of number portability” in the country and the new policy would bring in lower prices and more freedom for consumers.

“This was one of the commitments of the Government and we are in full compliance. We will have number portability in fixed and mobile telephony throughout Chile,” added the Minister.

If retailers have older handsets in stock that are SIM-locked, then they can be offered for sale, if advertised as such, and the customer must be offered a free unlocking service.

Chile launches trial of number portability system

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Chile has launched the fixed number portability system. Chilean customers can currently port their fixed numbers in the Arica region. Arica has around 36,000 households with fixed telephony lines. The system will be made available to the Santiago area in March 2012, to be then gradually expanded across the country.

Additionally, Chile has rolled out a mobile number portability trial. The pilot will take about one month. The mobile number portability system is scheduled for commercial launch on 16 January 2012, Emol reports. Communications software and services provider Telcordia is managing Chile’s number portability system.

Chile eliminates domestic long-distance charges

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Chile has completed the first phase of the process of elimination of domestic long-distance charges. The process will see the number of calling zones reduced initially to 13 from 24, and in a second stage will eliminate all zones for a single nationwide calling area.

According to Chilean telecoms regulator Subtel, this first stage has benefited around 6 million customers in the regions of Valparaiso, El Maule, Bio Bio, Atacama, Coquimbo, Los Lagos, and Los Rios. The charges are expected to be completely eliminated by 2013.

See the Chilean Telecommunication records in Latin Target.

What is Latin Target? Find out at www.latintarget.com

Virgin Mobile to launch MVNO in Chile in 2012

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Virgin Mobile will launch an MVNO in Chile in the first quarter of 2012. Chilean telecommunications regulator Subtel has already authorized the service launch, Emol reports, citing Virgin CEO Richard Branson.

Virgin will provide its MVNO services in Chile using the movistar’s Telefonica Chile network. Virgin Mobile Chile will mainly target the young customer segment.

See the Telefonica Chile SA record in Latin Target.

What is Latin Target? Find out at www.latintarget.com

Google launches AdSense for mobile in Latin America

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Google has launched AdSense for mobile content in fifteen countries. The fifteen countries include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Slovenia, Thailand, and Turkey.

AdSense for mobile content allows publishers to generate earnings from their mobile webpages using targeted Google ads. Like AdSense for content, Google matches ads to the content of the mobile site. For mobile websites, AdSense will automatically detect the type of phone viewing the site and deliver ads to match.