NII Holdings, which operates in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru and Chile under the brand Nextel, announced that its income for the fourth quarter of 2010 reached 98,6 million dollars, 65% more than in the same period in 2009. For this year the company estimates that it should achieve consolidated operating income of around 6.600million dollars and add around 1,7million new subscribers.
Brazil, Colombia and Mexico will have more than 70% of the total subscriptions to IPTV in 2015. According to a report from Signals Telecom Consulting, more than 70% of subscribers to IPTV services will come from the Brazilian, Colombian and Mexican markets. The consultancy indicated that the services of IPTV are emerging as a premium platform focused on clients with high purchasing power in new urbanizations and specific vertical segments, such as the hotel industry, which represent attractive niches for operators. Signals did also confirm however that there are still regulatory obstacles in the region regarding development of the service.
With 2,7 million new mobile line activations in the month of January, Brazil reached a total base of 205,7 million portable phone users. According to a report from the Brazilian Consultancy Telecom, in keeping with preliminary figures from the National Agency of Telecommunications (Anatel) the figure achieved represents an accumulated growth over the last 12 months of 17,13%. Of the total base of accesses, 82,37% are prepaid and 17,63% postpaid.
The number of accesses to fixed and mobile broadband reached 36,1 million in January 2011, which represents a growth of 53% with respect to the same month of 2010, in accordance with a statement from the Brazilian Telecommunications Association (Telebrasil). The company also confirmed that the growth in mobile Internet accesses, modems as well as smartphones, was 85% over the same period.
Telebrasil indicated that coverage of the services of fixed and mobile broadband Internet access reaches 96% of the population. The report indicates that services offered in the month of January reached 88% of Brazilian regions, 4.897 cities, which represent around 185 million inhabitants, 96% of the total population.
The executive vice president of marketing for Nokia Latin Americ, Niklas Savander, announced that the company will move its offices from Miami to Sao Paolo, Brazil. The executive said in a conference with the local press that the move was a strategic one, since Brazil sells 40% of all commercial telephones in Latin America. In addition he highlighted the geographical proximity with important markets such as Argentina, Chile and Columbia.
The net income of Portugal Telecom fell 83,5% in the fourth quarter of 2010 at 55 million Euros in comparison with 312,1 million Euros achieved in the same period of 2009, according to international agencies. The fall in income is a consequence of the sale of the share of the Brazilian operator Vivo to Telefónica for 7.500million Euros in 2010.
Telesintese informed that the Brazilian operator Vivo themselves closed the fourth quarter of 2010 with net income of 519,7 million, 325,1% more than the same period of 2009. Regarding the third quarter of 2010, incomes increased by 43,6%. The company attributed the result to an improved operational performance, lower depreciation costs and a better financial result. The annual accumulated income increase was 116%.
According to information from local media, the board of directors of the Telecommunications Company of Bogota (ETB) and the mayor Samuel Moreno announced that they would not reopen the sale of the telephone operator. Their justification lies in the overall state of ETB; the company’s products and prospects did not awaken any interest.
Two weeks ago, in a meeting with Moreno, the lawyer appointed by the administrative security, Maria Eugenia Carreño, commented on the importance of selling the municipal company. In the month of December 2010, the board of directors also recommended the sale of 88% of the shares that the municipality has in the company to avoid the operator losing even more value. And in the month of September they declared that the second search for a partner to bring capital to the company had failed. According to the president of the ETB, Fernando Carrizosa, the company is valued at between 1.052 and 1.263 million dollars.
The television by subscription service in Chile grew 22% in the past two years according to figures from the Latin American Council for Pay TV Publicity (LAMAC), said a report in La Tercera. Taking figures from the Subsecretary of Telecommunications over the past four years the number of subscribers grew from 916.000 in June 2006 to more than 1,8 million in August 2010. According to data from the consultancy Ibope, 55,6% of Chilean homes are subscribers to pay TV services, whilst in 2008 this figure was 35%.
Income from mobile broadband Internet services through 3G networks in Central America will exceed 211 million dollars by 2016, says a report from Signals Telecom Consulting. The consultancy indicates that mobile broadband services as an alternative to fixed networks are allowing the rapid maturing of 3G networks. In this scenario the launching of HSPA+ will increase the mobile operators opportunities to compete with fixed operators. Signals confirmed that Digicel should speed up its launches in order not to lose out in this marketplace.