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Wireless Federation » archive for 'Bolivia'

Tigo plans 3G expansion (Bolivia)

  • October 20th, 2008
  • 12:36 pm

Telcel, brand name Tigo, Bolivia, plans a 3G expansion to a ‘group of important cities in the country’. The cities to be covered haven.t been decided yet, though the operator is in the final stages of the expansion plan.

   

Entel nears the mark of 2 Mn subscribers (Bolivia)

  • October 16th, 2008
  • 12:07 pm

The Bolivian mobile operator, Entel Movil, nears the mark of 2 million subscribers. Since the operator was renationalised this May, it adopted an agressive investment strategy in order to grow. It expanded it’s coverage by deploying more base station across the nation in both rural and urban area. The operator reportedly adds 50,000 new subscribers per month and has leads the chart of country’s largest operator by subscribers. It has a market share of 43.3%.

   

Millicom launches 3G services in Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia

  • September 1st, 2008
  • 6:00 am

Millicom, the global teleco, announces the launch of 3G services in Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia. The launches in Paraguay, El Salvador and Colombia will be followed before the end of this year, with which the roll-out of 3G across all six of its markets in Latin America will be completed. Millicom is providing the full portfolio of 3G services including high speed mobile broadband, internet access for mobilecustomers via laptop, TV on mobile handsets, music and video downloads and video calling.
“The launch of 3G services in Latin America is the first step in the process of meeting the needs of our higher ARPU customers for broadband services. Broadband is expected to be a significant growth segment in these markets and one which we expect will be an important driver to our businesses going forward.”  says Marc Beuls, President and CEO of Millicom.

   

Tigo instigates commercial 3G services (Bolivia)

  • August 29th, 2008
  • 12:29 pm

According to a local media report, Telecel (Tigo) has launched commercial 3G services in Bolivia, with the operator offering services including videocalling, high speed mobile broadband and music and video downloads. No details of network coverage have been disclosed, although the operator has stated its intention to eventually roll out 3G services nationwide. Tigo had 1.19 million mobile telephony subscribers at the end of the second quarter. Presently, operator is migrating its few remaining TDMA customers across to its GSM network.

Entel Movil plans to expand rural coverage to 23 municipalities (Bolivia)

  • August 6th, 2008
  • 2:04 pm

Entel Movil, Bollivian cellco, has reportedly planned to expand it’s rural coverage to 23 municipalities in the Chuquisaca region. The expansion cost is estimated to be nearly USD3.4 million. The expected subscribers will be around 43,000. More rural rollouts are expected, with its further invovement in the  Telefonia Movil Rural programme, a governmental program to bring mobile and internet services to rural regions.

   

Entel funds to be released - New York court ruling (USA, Bolivia)

  • August 5th, 2008
  • 6:40 am

New York courts has made a ruling in favour of Entel, Bolivian telecoms operator, granting access to it’s frozen funds, in the US bank account of USD36 million. The ruling states that the Telecom Italia owned holding company with a controlling stake in Entel, had no right to seize any of the company’s assets. The case is a result of the Bolivian government’s decision to renationalise the fixed line operator, following which ETI announced of freezing approximately USD90 million in foreign bank accounts. In July British courts as well ruled in favour of the Bolivian government, unfreezing USD49 million in UK bank accounts.

   

Entel Movil expands mobile services in Cochamba (Bolivia)

  • July 30th, 2008
  • 12:59 pm

Entel Movil has expanded mobile services to the region of Cochamba, according to local news sources. The operator has deployed a base station in the region using GSM technology operating in the 850MHz band. The rollout is part of a larger commitment by the operator to bring mobile and internet services to rural areas of the country. According to a database, Entel Movil announced plans in 2006 to reach half a million people in 1,000 rural regions, through an agreement with the Ministry of Public Works. The project is being entirely funded by the cellco, although no costs have been detailed.

   

Tigo launches 3G in August’08 (Bolivia)

  • July 28th, 2008
  • 12:59 pm

Telecel (Tigo), the Bolivian mobile operator, is all set to launch 3G services in August this year. The new network will have nationwide coverage and will be capable of supporting services such as video calling and mobile broadband.

Tigo is also due to complete the migration of its few remaining TDMA customers on to its GSM network by the end of July. According to a database, Tigo is currently the second largest mobile operator in Bolivia, claiming market share of 31.95% at March 2008, behind rival Entel Movil.

   

Entel Bolivia cuts down prices for prepay subscribers (Bolivia)

  • July 22nd, 2008
  • 11:19 am

Bolivian operator Entel has cut mobile prices for the prepaid segment. Over 1.7 million prepaid GSM and TDMA subscribers will now be charged BOB 1.50 per minute for calls between 07:00 and 21:59 hours, down from BOB 1.80, while prices for calls between 22:00 and 06:59 hours have dropped from BOB 0.90 to BOB 0.70.

Entel has also cut prices for ‘Recarga Entel’ to BOB 5, currently available in over 2,200 sites across the country, and in over 4,000 locations by year-end. The operator has also introduced prepaid cards of BOB 10, while SMS prices have dropped to BOB 0.20 per message.

   

Bolivia seeks accord with Telecom Italia on Entel

  • May 5th, 2008
  • 2:29 pm

The Bolivian government wants to reach an accord with Telecom Italia SpA on compensation for the Italian firm’s 50% share of nationalized telephone company Entel, an EFE report said.

Public Works Minister Oscar Coca told Bolivision TV that President Evo Morales’ decree nationalizing Entel establishes that Telecom Italia must be paid for its stake within 60 days, the report said.

“The work will not be unilateral on the part of the government. A dialogue will be sought with the Telecom executives,” the minister said, stressing that La Paz is open to negotiations on the size of the compensation.

Morales announced the nationalization of Entel during a rally marking the second anniversary of his socialist government’s move to assert sovereignty over Bolivia’s massive reserves of natural gas.

In April 2007, the government took control of the 47% of Entel shares held by a pension fund managed by Swiss and Spanish banks.

Entel began as a state-owned company, but was privatized in the 1990s.

Morales announced in January 2007 his intention to return Entel to state control, but talks with Telecom Italia broke down after the Italian company hauled La Paz before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, a World Bank entity that Bolivia pulled out of last year.