Roundup: Bolivia smartphones, Jamaica cable TV, Movistar Nicaragua

There were around 1.58mn smartphones in Bolivia at the end of last year, for a market penetration of 46%. Smartphone use has been growing at an average rate of 400% a year since 2012 in the country, local paper El Día said, citing Entel.

Mobile internet grew 133% last year, from 1.1mn to 2.7mn connections.

Entel reported that 740,000 mobile lines out of its total of 4.5mn corresponded to smartphones. Tigo reported that 31% of its 3.1mn lines corresponded to smartphones while Viva reported that smartphones represented 38% of its 1.5mn lines.

***

The Jamaican Broadcasting Commission said that 49 cable companies had been found to be in breach of copyright law, paper the Gleaner reported.

The commission alleged the cable companies had been found to be showing 98 channels without authorization. The regulator has told the operators to remove the channels or "regularize them."

***

Movistar Nicaragua announced the launch of SmartStore, the country's first digital customer center.

Telefónica invested US$150,000 in SmartStore, launched to help improve customer service. Customers will be able to access the store from their phones and tablets, where they will be able to check their bills, browse plans and offers and top up their phones.