CANTO Weekly Newsletter – BNamericas 10/03/14

Swedish telecoms equipment supplier Ericsson is deploying its Wallet solution to integrate mobile services from different financial and commercial institutions into one platform.

The full solution will be implemented in phases and the initiative aims to reach 2.1mn unbanked Peruvians in 5 years.

Peru’s financial services and pension fund regulator SBS said in March it is predicting an m-banking boom in 2015. Peru passed legislation in January 2013 creating a regulatory framework for the technology.

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The Digicel Foundation has committed to a series of new projects under the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to benefit communities in Haiti, Jamaica and Papua New Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago publication Tnt&t reported.

The Digicel Foundation recently completed a project to build 150 schools in Haiti and its new projects will require an investment of US$13mn, benefitting over 2mn people.

The latest projects will tackle issues of access to and quality of education in Haiti; access to science, technology, engineering and math education in Jamaica; and violence against women in Papua New Guinea.

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Argentina has called a tender for a technical audit of the internet services being provided under its “internet for schools” program, according to the communications ministry Secom.

Offers can be made from September 26 to October 14 at the offices of the technical committee of the universal access fund.

Columbus International launches DaaS, SaaS with Citrix – Caribbean, Central America Caribbean and Central American telco Columbus International has launched desktop as a service (DaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) solutions to businesses across the region through a partnership with Citrix.

The solution is designed to enable businesses to take advantage of desktop virtualization and SaaS as well as implement mobility and teleworking strategies.

Columbus Cloud Desktop allows secure and ubiquitous access to applications with a consistent experience regardless of location or device, enabling clients to better take advantage of BOYD and teleworking, the company said.

Columbus Cloud Desktop is powered by Citrix XenApp, XenDesktop, Netscaler and XenMobile software, all integrated through Columbus’ regional network.

Through its subsidiary Columbus Networks, the company provides capacity and IP services, corporate data solutions and data center hosting in 42 countries in the Caribbean, Central American and Andean region.

Uruguay takes the lead in LatAm connection speed – Akamai – Regional Uruguay has taken the lead in Latin America with the fastest average internet connection, according to internet content delivery network specialist Akamai.

Uruguay recorded a 5.6Mbps average connection speed in the second quarter this year, according to Akamai’s Q2 State of the Internet interactive map. The assessment is based on fixed connections made to Akamai’s Intelligent Platform during the period.

In the previous study, the South American nation appeared with a 3.6Mbps average.

Overall, the region’s fastest average connection speed in Q2 was in the Bahamas at 6.6Mbps, while Jamaica registered 5.5Mbps.

Mexico, which in the previous Akamai report appeared ahead of Uruguay with 3.9MBps, now averages 4.3Mbps.

Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, recorded a 2.9Mbps average connection speed, up 11% from 2.6Mbps in Q1.

Uruguay, Chile and Argentina all had growth rates above 30%. Chile and Argentina averaged 4.4Mbps and 4.2Mbps connection speeds, respectively.

According to Akamai, the global average speed was 4.6Mps, up 21% from the previous study. South Korea tops the list with 24.6Mbps.

IN BRIEF: Dominican Republic, Haiti aim to stop telecoms interference – Dominican R., Haiti The Dominican Republic and Haiti have joined forces to solve the phone, radio and TV interferences on the border they share, Dominican daily Proceso reported.

Haiti’s frequencies often cross over to the Dominican side and interfere with reception in border villages, said José Rafael Vargas, president of the senate transport and telecommunications committee.

The committee met with regulator Indotel and Haiti’s equivalent and agreed on working together on a solution.

Netotiate brings e-commerce ‘haggling’ to LatAm – Regional US e-commerce technology firm Netotiate has high expectations for its price haggling platform in Latin America.

The company’s flagship platform allows online retailers to “detect” the type of visitor to its website and, based on predictive analytics and other technologies, enable those who are not so certain about buying to make an offer on a product’s suggested price.

The technology differentiates users that have already made up their minds from those who have not to allow only the latter to negotiate the price.

“This way, companies are likely to increase loyalty and sales conversion while preserving their margins by not offering discounts to users that could or would purchase without them,” sales director Zachary Booth told BNamericas.

The company has just landed in Latin America. It inked its first deals in the region with Brazilian online retailers B2W and Dafiti, and is said to be in advanced negotiations with other retailers in Brazil and elsewhere in the continent.

Colombia, where talks are most advanced, is likely to follow Brazil, according to Booth.

Netotiate was founded in 2011. Among its current clients are major retailers in the US and Europe, including Sears and French group Casino.