CWC launches LTE services in Cayman Islands – Caribbean

Claro expands 4G LTE network to 9 new cities in Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico

Roundup: Subtel, Orange Business Services, ICANN-CTU – Regional

El Salvador to host audience with telecom operators over delayed mobile spectrum auction – El Salvador

Financial inclusion, e-commerce, mobile phones boost Latin American online payments – Regional

 

 

CWC launches LTE services in Cayman Islands – Caribbean

 

UK firm Cable & Wireless Communications (C&WC) has launched LTE services in the Cayman Islands, where it operates under the LIME brand, the company announced in a release.

The network, installed by Swedish telecom provider Ericsson, will allow download speeds of 100Mbps with 100% coverage in the Cayman Islands.

C&WC is also in the process of rolling out high-speed fiber broadband services across the country.

Revenues for C&WC’s Caribbean operations fell by 6% to US$521mn the six months to September 30 as slight growth in mobile revenues was not enough to offset declines in broadband, TV, fixed voice and enterprise services.

 

 Claro expands 4G LTE network to 9 new cities in Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico

Mobile operator Claro has expanded its 4G LTE network to nine cities in Puerto Rico, reaching a total of 18 cities in seven weeks, the company said in a release.

Claro’s 4G LTE network now covers Cayey, Ceiba, Hatillo, Guayama, Rincón, Río Grande, Patillas, Vega Alta and Vega Baja, joining Aguada, Añasco, Arecibo, Barceloneta, Fajardo, Humacao, Juncos, Manatí and San Lorenzo, as well as San Juan, Ponce, Mayagüez and Caguas.

Claro Puerto Rico is fully controlled by Mexican mobile telephony group América Móvil (NYSE: AMX).

Roundup: Subtel, Orange Business Services, ICANN-CTU – Regional

Chile’s telecoms regulator Subtel has launched an application to measure mobile network quality.

The application enables users to carry out tests on voice quality, data upload and download, see coverage areas, report network failures and other incidents and compare the performance of different mobile operators.

The app is free and has a collaborative interface allowing users to share results on social networks.

The “Calidad Móvil” app is available for download initially only on Google Play for Android users, but will soon also be available for the iOS and BlackBerry OSs.

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Orange Business Services has appointed its current Americas regional head Diana Einterz to the additional role of director of large French company clients, Orange said in a statement.

The idea is to help clients in both the Americas and France to expand beyond their traditional markets.

“I am confident that the synergies we will create in the Americas regional team will facilitate this process. In addition, our clients in North and South America will benefit from this broader view,” Einterz said.

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The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have signed a memorandum of understanding to increase cooperation and coordination between both organizations.

The signing took place during the Caribbean ICT Week in Jamaica.

CTU secretary general Bernadette Lewis and ICANN president and CEO Fadi Chehadé committed to start implementing concrete actions in the upcoming weeks including capacity building, partnering for outreach events and fostering multi stakeholder dialog at regional and national levels.

El Salvador to host audience with telecom operators over delayed mobile spectrum auction – El Salvador

El Salvador’s telecom regulator Siget has scheduled meetings with all the country’s telephony operators to resolve the issues surrounding the delayed auction of 40Mhz of mobile spectrum, according to local press reports.

The head of Siget, Luis Méndez, declined to give a timeframe for the resolution, which will determine whether the auction will be relaunched or further postponed, saying that it does not depend on him but on a collective process.

Antitrust regulator Superintendencia de Competencia (SC) has argued that allowing a large mobile operator to take the contract would give them an oversized market share. It proposes that companies should only be able to bid if they do not yet offer services in El Salvador.

The auction includes two spectrum blocks: one of 20MHz of spectrum in the 1,855-1,935MHz band, and another 20MHz block in the 1,765-2,165MHz band. Bidding for both would open at US$14mn.

Intelfón, Red, Salnet, and Costa Rican state telco ICE are reportedly interested in the process.

Financial inclusion, e-commerce, mobile phones boost Latin American online payments – Regional

Growing financial inclusion, increased e-commerce acceptance and a proliferation of mobile phones contributed to continued growth in Latin American online payments in the first half of 2013, a report by research firm yStats.com said.

Pointing towards future growth are a double digit growth rate in online payments forecast in Colombia compared to last year and the fact that US-based electronic payment firm SafetyPay secured several million US dollars from the World Bank to facilitate Latin American online payments.

Latin American governments have also taken notice with Brazil passing a decree regulating mobile and electronic payments and Venezuela introducing a legal framework for non-bank payment processors, the report said.

Mobile payments were particularly noted to be increasing financial inclusion, “as mobile phone penetration is much higher than banking coverage,” yStats added.