LATAM Telecom

With voice ARPU steadily declining and mobile penetration reaching 100% in major markets, operators in Latin America continue to explore different options for revenue generation services that will allow investments in 3G infrastructure to be recuperated. 3G technologies were widely deployed in Latin America during 2007 and 2008, but wireless Internet and data services are still in its infancy in the region; data represents on average less than 15% of total ARPU and SMS bring in most of data ARPU. In Latin America, LBS is not new but we had not seen any major breakthroughs until last week, when America Movil and Nokia announced a partnership to bring Nokia Maps Navigation to consumers in Latin America ( America Movil and Nokia Help Mobile Users in Latin America Navigate Their World , Feb 18, 2009). The other major announcement came a few days before the press release from America Movil. Ericsson announced a partnership with Networks in Motion to offer customers turn-by-turn directions ...

"Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity." -H. Jackson Brown Jr.: Participants at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week got a chance to discuss new and exciting trends in mobile services like Location Based Services, Mobile Entertainment, Mobile Advertising and Advanced Messaging services. However, the single topic that stole the show is the economic uncertainty that mobile operators and technology companies are facing. The keynote conference that opened the congress on Tuesday says it all: " Sustaining Growth in Challenging Times "(1). No one can argue that these are tough times but doing nothing seems to be the current modus operandi of the industry. My friend Mark Pendergast referred to me a great article by Professor John A. Quelch of Harvard " Marketing Your Way Through a Recession ". Published almost a year ago, it is even more relevant today: "In a recession, consumers become value oriented, distributors are concerned ab...