Skip to Content »

Wireless Federation » archive for 'Argentina'

iPhone 3G launches in 20 countries on August 22

  • August 7th, 2008
  • 12:18 pm

The iPhone 3G will be launched in twenty more countries on August 22. All the operators concerned have made their formal announcements. 10 countries are Latin American.It is predicted that SingTel will also join the mix, but the reports are yet to be confirmed.

August 22 releases

    * Argentina - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Chile - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Colombia - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Czech Republic - O2
    * Ecuador - Telefonica and America Movil
    * El Salvador - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Estonia - Eesti Mobii Telefon
    * Guatemala - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Honduras - America Movil
    * Hungary - T-Mobile
    * India - Bharti Airtel and Vodafone
    * Paraguay - America Movil
    * Philippines - GlobeTelecom
    * Peru - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Poland - Orange and Era
    * Romania - Orange
    * Uruguay - Telefonica and America Movil

   

American Movil to begin iPhone sales in 10 countries across Latin America

  • August 7th, 2008
  • 7:23 am

American Movil, largest operator in Latin America, announced that it would begin selling Apple iPhone this month in ten countries of Latin America.

According to American Movil, the new iPhone will be available from August 22 in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

It was in May that the company signed a deal for iPhone distribution across Latin America.

America Movil has already started sale of the device in Mexico and its Brazilian unit Claro is expected to begin sales soon.

   

Argentina adds 43.18 million mobile lines for the month of June (Argentina)

  • August 5th, 2008
  • 11:02 am

Argentina increased it’s number of mobile lines to 43.18 million, up 1% from previous month. According to the national statistics, the number of mobile calls during the month of june were 2.945 billion, up by 2%.SMS sent this month rose to 3.96 billion, up by 2.4% since the month of May.

   

Argentina’s mobile market (Argentina)

  • August 4th, 2008
  • 2:17 pm

Argentina’s mobile market is the third largest in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico and in terms of penetration, Argentina is the regional leader. The telecom sector has been growing rapidly, with a penetration of 75% mobile telephony. The three operators, Movistar, Claro, and Telecom Personal, run a close competition for market share. Besides the three main cellular providers, Nextel operates an iDEN network with a small but profitable slice of the market. GSM is the main technology in Argentina, with TDMA and CDMA slated to disappear after June 2008.
All three companies launched 3G services over HSDPA networks in 2007. Approximately 136,000 subscribers use 3G services in Argentina.

Country                       No. of 3G Users
Telecom Personal             75,000
Claro                              50,500
Movistar                         10,500

 

*Total subscribers in Argentina will increase from 38.03 million in 2007 to 44 million in 2010.
* The two largest operators - Movistar Argentina and CTI - will continue to have very similar market shares (by subscribers). It is forecasted that Movistar will increase its current market share from a projected 35.6% in 2007 to 36.8% in 2010 while CTI’s market share will drop slightly to 32.8% in 2010.
* Telecom Argentina will continue to suffer from the highest churn rate in the country at 3% monthly churn rate from 2007 to 2010.
*It is forecasted that Movistar Argentina will have the lowest EBITDA margin of 30.4% in 2010 in Argentina. On the other hand, Telecom Argentina, CTI, and Nextel will enjoy higher EBITDA margins at around 35% - 40% in 2010.
*In 2010 Nextel, will provide services to 2.9% of total subscribers, will receive the highest ARPU of $48.2 per month. It is noted that this is 3 times higher than the closest competitor, Telecom Argentina.

   

Mobile spectrum should be awarded to co - ops for free - Caltel Chief (Argentina)

  • July 21st, 2008
  • 1:59 pm

Dario Oliver, the president of telecoms cooperatives chamber Catel, has stated that government should award mobile spectrum to co-ops at no charge in order to make viable their mobile telephony project.The cooperatives require approximately 10MHz of spectrum in the 1900Mhz band.

However, the government cannot award spectrum directly to the cooperatives for the mobile telephony project because there is a law which stipulates that spectrum should be auctioned. Telephony cooperatives currently offer fixed services, although some of them also provide internet services. 

According to Oliver, there are approximately 320 cooperatives across the country. He added that the government will allow co-ops to enter the cable TV segment ’soon’ with the passing of a new law, as current regulations do not allow telcos to offer broadcasting services. Regarding the mobile telephony project, Oliver said that Fecotel and Fecosur already own wireless concessions, but lacked the spectrum to launch services.

   

Claro to invest a billion dollars over next three years (Argentina)

  • April 8th, 2008
  • 2:36 pm

Argentine mobile operator Claro, owned by Mexican giant America Movil (AM), expects to invest USD1 billion within the next three years, reports BNamericas, quoting an interview with AM CEO Daniel Hajj in local paper La Nacion. The executive said the investment will be chiefly geared towards the expansion of the 3G network and new platforms. Claro, until last month known as CTI Movil, expects to obtain additional spectrum to achieve its expansion programme in the country, Hajj said. Rival cellco Movistar Argentina, owned by Spain’s Telefonica, was obliged to return 35MHz of spectrum in the 850MHz band as a condition of the merger of its two local units Movicom and Unifon in 2005. Hajj said Movistar should have returned the frequencies by the end of 2007, and called on the government to launch international bidding once the spectrum becomes available. Claro hopes to obtain the additional allocation to increase its penetration in the Buenos Aires area. In the meantime, the cellco expects to deploy 250 additional base stations this year.

   

 

Personal and Ancel ink 3G roaming agreement (Argentina)

  • January 16th, 2008
  • 7:49 am

Argentinian cellco Personal has revealed in a statement that it has signed a 3G roaming agreement with Ancel of Uruguay. The Telecom Argentina subsidiary will offer its customers 3G services in Montevideo, Colonia, Punta del Este, Maldonado and Durazno over Ancel’s W-CDMA network. Ancel launched 3G services last July following investment of USD20 million while Personal initiated similar services last May. According to BNamericas, current coverage of Personal’s W-CDMA network extends to Buenos Aires, Rosario, Cordoba and coastal cities such as Mar del Plata. It expects to have one million 3G customers by mid-2009, Personal’s marketing director Guillermo Rivaben said previously.

   

 

NII posts 3Q results

  • October 27th, 2007
  • 9:19 am

Latin American wireless provider NII Holdings has posted its third quarter results, showing lower sequential subscriber growth but rising year-on-year revenues. The company said it added 327,000 net subscribers during the quarter at a churn rate of 1.6%, compared to 331,000 net additions in the previous quarter. Recent hurricanes in Mexico are said to have cost 10,000 to 15,000 net additions. NII’s monthly ARPU was USD59. Quarterly revenue rose 39% year-on-year to USD853 million. NII, which competes with Mexico’s America Movil and Spain’s Telefonica, operates in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile.

   

 
 

Argentina’s broadband lines grow to 2.06 mln in H1 (Argentina)

  • October 26th, 2007
  • 2:05 pm

The number of broadband lines in Argentina was nearly 2.06 million at the end of June, up by over 474,000 or 30 percent frm the start of 2007, according to the fourth edition of Cisco’s broadband barometer, carried out by IDC Argentina. The latest figure raises broadband penetration in Argentina to 5.3 percent, low versus more developed markets. Of broadband connections, 92 percent are residential. The companies segment grew mainly due to the SMEs segment. Of total broadband connections, 70 percent are ADSL, 28 percent are cable modem, with ADSL connections growing around 31 percent in H1 and cable modem by 28 percent.

   

Argentina probes Telefonica’s Telecom Italia stake (Argentina)

  • October 18th, 2007
  • 2:39 pm

The Argentine government has ordered a probe into whether Telefonica’s purchase of an indirect stake in Telecom Italia will damage competition in Argentina, reports La Nacion. Ministers Julio De Vido and Miguel Peirano said two observers had been appointed to investigate whether Telefonica could end up in a monopoly position by entering Telecom Italia. Spanish operator Telefonica and Telecom Italia operate Argentina’s two largest telephony, mobile and internet companies, Telefonica and Telecom Argentina. The observers have two months in which to examine the case and present their conclusions to the Competition Commission, Argentina’s telecoms regulator and the government. Telefonica is trying to buy an indirect stake in Telecom Italia along with a number of Italian partners including banks. Brazil is also investigating whether the operation could impact on its market.