LATAM Telecom

Not sure what to think of the headline in the Newspaper CLARIN highlighting the success of Instant Messaging in Argentina: "One hundred thousand already chatting in their mobile phone: IM has been in service for more than a year" (loosely translated for my readers that do not read Spanish, link here for those that do). I understand the point they are trying to make but somehow, if the news is that the service has been there for ONE YEAR .... so do people in Argentina actually know about the service ... after one year? Anyway, other than the weird headline (blame the editors!), the article is well written and informative, and covers the efforts by both Movistar Argentina and Telecom Personal. However .... we will discuss their statistics later, it is an interesting topic. As we mentioned here before, Movistar Chile and Argentina were the first to sign an agreement with MSN, leading the region with these services. Movistar, however, launched a WAP version of the service using M...

This holiday season operators in Chile launched intense campaigns to promote their 3G services (see Claro and Entel PCS TV commercials). Services promoted are Video Telephony and Digital TV and Radio, with the promise of "other services coming soon". This comes as no surprise as Chile is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the region. According to the second annual Latin Technology Index from Latin Business Chronicle , Chile tops the list with the highest Internet and broadband penetration, the second-highest wireless telephony penetration and the third-highest PC penetration in Latin America. Latin America operators have quickly moved to putting in place all the infrastructure necessary for 3G, with operators in Chile, Argentina, Brazil leading the way. It is not a bad thing that operators are updating their networks, the question remains, however, What does 3G bring to Latin American markets? These services not only require new handsets, which can make t...

Movistar Argentina has launched " Quieren Hablarte" (December 11, 2007), a new service that allows prepaid customers to send an SMS notification to other Movistar subscribers when their credit runs out (source: Movistar Press release , also AHCIET ). Movsitar also has the "Avisame" service, which notifies them of the availability of the called party up to 3 hours after a failed call atempt. These services point to the relevance of a need for a call completion strategy in the region that focuses on different call scenarios as well as both calling party and called party. It'll be interesting to see how the service is received by subscribers. As we understand it, this service is automatic for all Movistar subscribers (Movistar to Movistar calls) with opt out option and a limit of 10 notifications once the subscriber's credit runs out. Telecom Personal also has mellamas which is basically the same service (to another Telecom personal number or a fixed number).

Fatima Raimondi, CEO of the Southern Unit for Ericsson Latin America stated that "A year ago, when I talked about 3G in the region, many thought of it as a fantasy; but now we can see it has been throughly realized" (interview for Convergencialatina , 2007 Latin American Yearbook MOBILES). The Southern Cone leads the region in technology and launch of 3G networks: Chile was the first to launch with the 3G launch of Entel PCS in December 2006. Since then, several America Movil and Telefonica Movistar properties followed aggressively during 2007, as well as Telecom Personal in Argentina. This is all good news, as the building of infrastructure was done in a relatively short period of time. However, as we have mentioned in previous posts (see posts 1 , 2 and 3 ), we have yet to see what this means for the evolution of VAS services in the region. Operators in the region have launched a number of services in the last couple of years but we have yet to see how MMS, Ring Back...

From Cellular News and other news sources, we find out that Microsoft has started placing advertisements on the U.S. version of MSN Mobile. Microsoft already serves up mobile ads in Japan and some European markets. Competitor Yahoo began selling cell phone ads phones in the U.S. in late 2006 and expanded overseas in February (source: Cellular News ). What about Latin America? Microsoft introduced MSN Mobile in the Latin American market in 2006, with Brazil leading the way ( source ), as well as Movistar Chile and Argentina, with the launch of MSN Mobile ( source ). While this service is available in most of the region, it is a WAP based service that can be cumbersome. There are no available statistics that we know of for the penetration of this service, but we expect them to be very low. The deployment of 3G networks in the region can probably help operators provide a better user experience for this service, although given the limitations presented by a mostly prepaid customer base (~...

"2007 was the year 3G services started to become widely available throughout the Americas," remarked 3G Americas President, Chris Pearson. "There is widespread deployment of HSDPA in the US and Canada, and UMTS/HSPA networks are now launched in many markets in Latin America and the Caribbean." Operators in Argentina (Personal, Movistar, CTI Movil), Chile (Entel PCS), Uruguay (Ancel, CTI Movil and Movistar), Paraguay (CTI Movil) and recently, Brazil (Telemig Celular and Claro) announced the launch of their UMTS services this year. A year ago, AT&T Mobility in Puerto Rico became the first operator to launch commercial UMTS services in the Caribbean. Eva Benguigui, Senior Research Analyst Latin America with Informa Telecoms and Media, predicts, "Based on the eleven UMTS/HSPA network launches in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the many more to come in 2008, the number of UMTS/HSPA subscriptions in the region will reach 15.3 million by year end 2009." ...

Latin America's largest groups, Telefonica Movistar and America Movil, have indicated their intentions to put in place the infrastructure necessary to deploy 3G services (see here and here ). This will allow faster access to content and faster downloads, improving access to advanced services. The other pieces of the puzzle should follow, mainly the penetration of capable handsets, “smart phones” with some form of data capability. The question that remains is, are users in Latin America ready for these services? How will operators add new users and make sure they will adopt the new services?

Mexico's America Movil announced recently the commercial launch of advanced third-generation services in several markets early next year ( America Movil Sees 3g Launch 1q 08 ). The group's Argentine subsidiary, mobile operator CTI Movil, launched 3G services in greater Buenos Aires, Rosario and Cordoba, following similar launches earlier this year by rivals Telecom Personal and Movistar ( CTI Movil Launches 3G in Coastal Cities ). CTI’s sister operations in Uruguay and Paraguay will also launch 3G in the near future, in the cities of Colonia and Punta del Este (Uruguay) and Ciudad del Este and Encarnacion (Paraguay).