ICT: The week in 10 stories

NEXTEL GETS NEW INVESTORS

NII Holdings agreed to sell a 30% stake in its last remaining asset, Nextel Brasil, to Norways's AINMT for US$50mn with an option to add another US$150mn, upping its stake to a controlling 60%.

AINMT, which operates ice.net in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Philippines and Indonesia, says its experience focusing on low frequency bands for covering large geographical areas will serve it well in Brazil, and is optimistic it will soon gain regulatory approval to convert the 800MHz band to mobile.

TRANS PACIFIC CABLE

A proposed cable connecting China to Chile would stretch an astonishing 20,000-24,000km and cost up to US$650mn, according to a prefeasibility study submitted to telecom regulator Subtel by Chinese company Huawei.

Subtel now has to decide if, or how, to proceed to the next stage but says the cable would be an important connection from Latin America to Asia.

IP TRAFFIC ON THE RISE

Latin America will see a 21% CAGR in IP traffic in the 2016-21 period, according to Cisco's Visual Networking Index.

Growth will be driven by the proliferation of M2M devices, increasing levels of HD video, public Wi-Fi hotspots and even more cyber security attacks.

LTE EYE OPENERS

A study released by consulting firm OpenSignal gave some revealing insight into the top LTE markets in Latin America.

Based on network availability, the proportion of time users have access to a network, and average download connection speeds, it showed that Mexico came out top closely followed by Peru, Panama and Argentina.

FEW BIDS FOR COSTA RICA SPECTRUM

Telecom regulator Sutel has cleared telcos Claro and Movistar to participate in the upcoming auction for seven blocks of spectrum in the 1800MHz and 1900MHz/2100MHz bands.

Millicom, which provides mobile services in Central and South America through the Tigo brand and offers cable services in Costa Rica, was expected to bid but did not.

TELECENTRO SURPRISES IN BID FOR ARGENTINA SPECTRUM

Four telecom operators – Movistar, Claro, Personal, and Telecentro – presented bids for spectrum in the 2.5GHz band which was returned to the state by Grupo Clarín.

The biggest surprise was Buenos Aires-based cable operator TeleCentro, which holds a mobile license dating back to 2011, which it had reportedly been considering using for MVNO services.

CUBA RESIDENTIAL INTERNET DOUBLES

As the Communist country slowly opens up to investment, telecommunications have been improving. Numbers show residential internet subscribers have doubled to 600 two months after state-run telco Etecsa began commercializing the service in the country's capital.

MEXICO'S BACKBONE NETWORK

Some 72 cable suppliers are looking to deploy a total 3,000km of fiber optic cabling as part of the country's backbone network, which will be developed by state-run company Telecomm. Companies have already submitted expressions of interest.

TECH IN BANKING TRENDS THRASHED OUT

BNamericas attended the Ciab Febraban banking tech event in São Paulo, which revealed some of the major tech trends affecting the industry.

During a panel, Brazil's banking sector said it is busy trying to figure out which blockchain platform to adopt.

Over 15 Brazilian banks and financial institutions made joint proofs of concept with two blockchain systems: the Corda system based on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform and the Hyperledger Fabric, based on open-source.

Santander Brasil said it will not get into a digital race with rival Bradesco, which announced Next, a digital banking operation to compete with fintechs and independent brokers.

The company said there is room for different strategies and that the bank has been investing in the digital transformation of its human capital.

The event also revealed that contactless payment technologies for the 'tap and pay' model have taken off in Latin America's public transport sector, but has failed to break into the region's retail industry.

Reasons suggested for this failure include the fact that Latin American bank account holders still prefer payment cards over mobile payment methods.

HOW A TECH COMPANY IS HELPING MINING RECOVERY

As Chile's mining industry slowly reemerges from the gloom in the commodities market, Chilean firm TrackTec has been directly working with the industry in solving some of the issues that will be crucial in the future.

These center around sensors and devices aimed at improving safety and productivity.