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Wireless Federation » archive for 'Guatemala'

Intelfon plans to invest USD75 million for network expansion (El Salvador)

  • September 8th, 2008
  • 11:51 am

Intelfon, the digital trunking mobile operator will be investing USD75 million for the expansion of it’s network based in El Salvador and the recently launched operations in Guatemala. The iDEN-based operator is also looking forward for the launch of it’s services under its ‘RED’ banner in Nicaragua and Honduras, after the complete establishment of operations in Guatemala.

   

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.

   

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.

   

Guatemala adds 3 mln mobile users in 2007 (Guatemala)

  • January 15th, 2008
  • 12:23 pm

Guatemala gained almost 3 million new mobile phone users last year, taking the total to 10.15 million, said Oscar Chinchilla, head of the telecoms regulator Suptel. That takes mobile penetration to 75 penetration, one of the highest rates in the region, writes local paper El Periodico. The strong growth last year was helped by mobile kits selling for as little as GTQ 100 with the same amount of airtime and operators offering triple the value of airtime on certain days of the week. At the end of 2007, Comcel was market leader with 41 percent of subscribers, followed by America Movil’s Claro with 34 percent and Movistar with 25 percent. Some 93 percent of subscribers use prepaid services. Comcel said it expects growth to continue this year and to add another 1 million lines.

   

Telefonica plans additional investment (Guatemala)

  • October 3rd, 2007
  • 2:31 pm

Telefonica says its total investment in its Guatemalan operations will reach USD810 million by the end of 2007, according to a report from BNamericas. The Spanish firm is planning to spend USD80 million between now and the end of the year to expand its mobile coverage nationwide, adding to the USD730 million it has already invested. The firm says it now has two million cellular subscribers in Guatemala, already beating its end-2007 target. Telefonica competes with America Movil subsidiary Claro and Millicom’s Tigo.

   

 

America Movil to spend USD250m to expand Claro in Guatemala (Guatemala)

  • August 30th, 2007
  • 3:35 pm

Mexico’s America Movil has revealed plans to spend USD250 million over the next two years to expand network coverage at its Guatemalan mobile subsidiary Claro. The expansion will include the deployment of some 1,000 new base stations across the country, boosting its total to 1,600 by the end of 2008.

There are five players in the Guatemalan mobile market,Claro (previously known as PCS Digital), Comcel, Telefónica Móviles Guatemala (Movistar), Electronica Industrial and Digicel Holdings — though the last two have yet to launch services. Claro is market leader, with around 41.3% of all subscribers by 31 March 2007, while the former monopoly operator Comcel holds second place with 37.3% of the market. Telefonica consolidated its position in 2004 when it acquired the operations of rival operator BellSouth, although it is still some way behind Comcel in terms of customer numbers, with the remaining 21.4%.

   
 

 

LatiNode expands VoIP coverage to Guatemala, Honduras

  • August 2nd, 2007
  • 2:41 pm

US-based voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) specialist LatiNode says it has launched its CrossFone residential service in Guatemala and Honduras, expanding its footprint in the Latin American region. LatiNode CEO Jorge Granados told BNamericas that his company now plans to expand the business model it launched successfully in Argentina three years ago to include new markets such as El Salvador and Nicaragua – although its two-year timeframe is subject to change. In Guatemala the company is planning to offer broadband services in addition to its core retail business: pre-paid calling and unlimited use VoIP subscription. In Honduras, where local telecoms laws require all DLD traffic to go through the country’s incumbent Hondutel, CrossFone is fully licensed as a ‘sub-operator’ of the telco, in compliance with Honduran law.
Meanwhile, in Argentina itself LatiNode now plans to extend its service portfolio to a triple-play offering through partnerships with local cablecos.

   
 

 

 

 

Digicel receives green light (Guatemala)

  • June 28th, 2007
  • 1:07 pm

Digicel has received full authorisation from regulatory body SIT to launch services in Guatemala. The Caribbean mobile holding company has one year from now in which to launch. Digicel gained a mobile licence for Guatemala when it acquired Digicel Holdings Ltd - an entirely separate company - in September 2006. Digicel Holdings had a cellular operation in El Salvador and held a GSM licence in Guatemala since March 2003, but it had failed to roll out a network.

   

Tigo to invest US$100mn in 2007

  • January 11th, 2007
  • 12:35 pm

Honduran mobile operator Tigo, operated by Millicom International Cellular, plans to invest US$100mn this year in preparation for increased mobile demand in the country, local press reported.

The majority of the investment will go towards network expansion, and local reports have quoted Tigo president, Antonio Tavel Otero, as saying the company aims to have coverage in each of Honduras’ 298 municipalities by year-end.

Millicom’s Central American operations in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have been the key drivers of growth for the company in Latin America. Millicom also has operations in Bolivia, Paraguay and Colombia. In 3Q06, Millicom posted US$207mn in revenues compared to US$120mn in 3Q05.

According to the executive, Tigo accounts for around 1.5 million of Honduras’ 2 million mobile subscribers.