French regulator Arcep has approved Digicel and Free Caraibe’s network-sharing arrangement for the Antilles-Guyane region (covering French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique).

Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual has reportedly won 58 percent of operator Oi’s fibre business, for which it is expected to pay $2.3 billion.

IHS Towers is boosting its footprint in Latin America with the acquisition of Centennial Towers’ operations in Brazil and Colombia.

Millicom has announced that its Tigo Business division has teamed up with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to expand and integrate its managed and professional services into its cloud solutions portfolio in a number of Latin American countries.

Brazil’s Oi has closed the sale of its tower unit to Highline after signing an initial agreement in November last year.

Suriname’s leading operator Telesur has signed a ten-year contract with Cerillion for a fully convergent BSS/OSS platform.

Andean Telecom Partners Perú (ATP Perú) has selected Nokia to support its rollout of neutral host digital infrastructure projects for both fixed fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and mobile (small cells) access in Peru.

IBM has announced the opening of its first IBM Cloud Multizone Region (MZR) in Latin America. Building on its existing data centre footprint in Brazil, IBM says that the MZR is a result of the company's continued investment in cloud infrastructure to accelerate hybrid cloud adoption and help foster business growth in Latin America.

Infinera, a supplier of networking solutions, and American Tower, a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multi-tenant communications real estate, have announced the successful completion of the first point-to-multipoint coherent optical transmission in a carrier network environment in Latin America.

Brazil’s Oi has sold off a data centre unit to Piemonte Holding for BRL367 million ($65.3 million) in a further manouevre to restructure its debt burden.

Digicel has signed an agreement with the Government of Curaçao under the School Digitalisation Project that will see 118 schools receive high-speed fibre optic internet connectivity.

Hot on the heels of its rival Claro, Entel Peru has announced the launch of a 5G New Radio (NR) fixed-wireless broadband offering using 3.5GHz spectrum.

Claro Peru is now offering commercial fixed-wireless 5G broadband via its 3.5GHz spectrum holding.

Brazilian regulator Anatel (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes) has cleared a proposal that will see the 6GHz (5925MHz-7125MHz) frequency band opened for unlicensed Wi-Fi 6E access.

TIM Brasil has entered exclusive talks with IHS Brasil Participacoes over the potential sale of a stake in its fibre network assets unit, FiberCo Solucoes de Infraestrutura (FiberCo).

Mexico’s GigNet has chosen Tejas Networks’ optical networking and broadband access products for its high-capacity fiber optic network expansion in the Cancun region of Mexico.

Xiaomi has taken third place in the Latin American smartphone market after rival Huawei dropped out of the top five brands in Q4 2020.

Claro and Entel’s Peruvian units have been cleared to offer 5G new radio (NR) fixed-wireless internet services via their existing 3.5GHz spectrum holdings.

Telefonica is reportedly close to agreeing a deal with Canadian pension fund CDPQ (Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec) to set up a new fibre optic broadband wholesaler in Brazil.

Ecuadorian operator CNT (Corporación Nacional de Telecommunicaciones) has chosen Nokia to help it deploy the country’s first 5G network.

Digital and mobile finance and payment services are continuing to make advances in developing regions – as recent announcements involving Latin America and the Middle East suggest.

Guyana’s prime minister has signed an exemption order for small local internet service providers in a bid to issue them licences more quickly.

After its long-delayed decision to appoint an administrator to develop and enact mobile number portability (MNP), Uruguay’s Regulatory Unit of Communications Services (URSEC) has asked stakeholders to help with the selection process.

Brazilian operator Altarede Telecom has made what it calls a record investment in products from DWDM specialist Padtec to expand routes in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.

The Dominican Republic expects its upcoming 5G auction to generate between US$200 million and US$300 million, according to Nelson Arroyo, the president of regulator Indotel (Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones).

Ocean Networks (ONI), which develops submarine cable systems for governments, carriers, content providers and research and education groups, has announced the launch of its Caribbean Express (CX) project, an 18-fibre pair subsea cable system linking Florida to Panama and taking in Mexico and Colombia.

Chile’s final tiebreaker auction for 5G spectrum has seen Entel, Movistar and WOM emerge victorious.

Claranet, a technology multinational focused on managed cloud services, has announced an investment of $100 million in its Brazil operation.

Nokia has partnered with Brazil’s independent Telecommunications Research and Development Center (CPQD) to develop applications and solutions tailored for the Brazilian market.