Movistar Peru has commercially launched its LTE network and plans to invest over USD 400 million over the next five years in the network deployment for the launch and expansion of 4G services. Currently covering 7 districts of Lima, Movistar’s LTE network includes Cercado de Lima, La Molina, Miraflores, San Borja, San Isidro, San Miguel and Santiago de Surco. Under the terms of its license, Telefonica will have to deploy 4G services in 234 district capitals and towns over the next five years.
Tag Archives: LTE
Tigo Colombia rolls out LTE network
Colombian operator Tigo has announced the launch of its 4G LTE network in capital city, Bogota and Medellin, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga.Several more cities should be added this month, with the rest of the departmental capitals and medium-sized cities joining by mid-2014 according to El Tiempo.
Tigo will offer a package that includes 6 GB, unlimited SMS and unlimited access to Tigo Music, for 69,000 Colombian Pesos. A data plan with 15 GB costs 109,900 Colombian Pesos.
Claro is also on the point of announcing the start of a commercial LTE service, while the other holders of 4G licences (DirecTV, ETB and Avantel) should launch their operations in 2014. Currently some 20 mobile phones compatible with the 4G network are available on the local market.
Movistar Peru to launch LTE services in Lima
Movistar Peru has announced it will commercially launch its LTE services on 2 January 2014. The offer will initially be available in seven districts of the Lima region, namely Cercado de Lima, San Miguel, Surco, San Borja, Miraflores, San Isidro and La Molina. Movistar has also unveiled it 4G tariff plan offering, which includes packages with prices ranging between PEN 99.9 and PEN 319.9 per month.
Chile’s Entel Pegs Ericsson to Deploy LTE Technology in Region
With the demand for data growing in many parts of Latin America, there’s little surprise in Chile’s most recent move into bringing LTE technology closer to home. Late last week, Chilean mobile operator Entel made a strategic choice by selecting Swedish telecom giant Ericsson to deploy its 4G LTE networks as part of a strategic alliance the two companies have committed to. The move symbolizes a growing trend in the region to upgrade cellular network data in order to meet an ever-increasing demand. As we’ve mentioned before, mobile broadband adoption in Latin America is overpassing fixed broadband, and the race to see who can develop the best network, fastest, is well underway.
Ericsson the Perfect Fit
Entel announced this most recent news in a written statement released to local press in Chile, and has plans to further disclose more details as the project progresses. For now, Entel is very optimistic about this partnership, and feels that there’s no better group to work with at this time than Ericsson. According to a statement made by Entel, “Ericsson is the largest international provider of LTE technology (4G) and mobile broadband…” adding that they will “introduce cutting edge technology and provide a platform for Ericsson to test its new products and services.” All in all, it’s a win/win for both companies. Ericsson gets to expand its market reach to Chile, a country with a booming data and tech demand. Entel gets tested, proven technology that they can implement far more rapidly than if they had to develop and test in house.
Other LTE Projects in Chile
Entel, along with Telefonica’s Movistar Chile, and América Móvil’s Claro, together won the LTE spectrum rights in the 2.6GHz band category in July 2012. They each now have 12 months to roll out the infrastructure, and capitalize on implementing the networks into the Chilean marketplace. Movistar also made an announcement announced on Feb 21 that it had chosen Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for its LTE rollout. This move follows Claro, who announced a partnership with Nokia Siemens last November. If these projects are successful, Chile could be used as a model for other telecoms in the region to follow suit, and partner up with other foreign entities for further LTE projects in the future.
América Móvil, who was the first to make such a partnership, plans to launch its LTE in Chile within the next month or two, which would make it the first out of the three companies to do so. In a market research study released last November, it was reported that NSN had actually gained ground on market leaders Ericsson during Q3 2012, watching its worldwide market share rise to 20% from 18% in the previous quarter. Likewise, Ericsson saw its market share fall just slightly by 1.5 percentage points to 34%, which still leaves it at a greater advantage than NSN as far as overall market presence. Needless to say, both companies will be competing heavily to roll out successful LTE technology in Chile this year.
Entel’s move with Ericsson should be a good indicator on the potential value of the Chilean mobile broadband market. With smartphone and data adoption expected to grow in the 20-30% range annually over the next two years, it appears that the rush to invest is well under way. Though we may not have seen these networks in action yet, all signs point to quick implementation, and even quicker adaptive trends, both in Chile, and across the continent.
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Personal in Paraguay launches LTE Network Upgrade
Paraguay based Personal has launched an LTE network covering the capital city and surrounding areas. The company has committed US$20 million to the upgrade.
LTE Will Be Launched by 60% of LATAM Operators by 2013
The majority of operators in Latin America plan to launch LTE by the end of 2013, according to a new industry survey by Informa Telecoms & Media. Over 60% of operators plan to launch LTE in the next two years, with 30% launching this year and 32.5% going to market next year.
“The Latin America results are in line with global results, which also point to 60% of operators targeting to launch LTE between 2012 and 2013,”, says Marceli Passoni, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. “This is unprecedented given that previous mobile technologies including 3G were deployed in developed markets first, and then in emerging markets such as Latin America several years later. Our survey finds that LTE will be rolled out in Latin America at the same time as most deployments globally.”
Read the full article on cellular-news: LTE Will Be Launched by 60% of Operators in Latin America by 2013
Mexico to Recalls LTE Spectrum from MVS
The Mexican government has announced that it will not renew the licenses held by companies in the 2.5Ghz spectrum band and plans to recall the spectrum when the licenses expire.
The most significantly affected company will be MVS Comunicaciones which has 190Mhz of spectrum in the affected block. MVS holds 42 of the available 68 concessions in the spectrum band, with the rest allocated to 11 other companies.
Last year, MVS Comunicaciones announced plans for a US$1 billion investment in a 4G mobile network as part of a consortium of companies, including US WiMAX operator, Clearwire and chipmaker, Intel. The company later abandoned the plans, citing a poor regulatory regime in the country.
MVS had offered US$500 million to renew its licenses, but the government had asked for US$1.2 billion, and that was for two-thirds of its holdings. Talks have seemingly broken down and now the government will push ahead with the recall of the spectrum.
Communications and transport (SCT) minister Dionisio Perez-Jacome said that the spectrum would be recovered as just 200,000 customers would be affected and it can be resold for use by LTE services.
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