Colombia could see a major boost to fixed access with a new agreement that, it is claimed, will provide the capital Bogotá with the largest fibre optic network coverage for fibre to the home (FTTH) in Latin America.

Argentina has an advanced telecom infrastructure though considerable investment is still required to update services in rural areas. To meet pent up demand for telecom services the government has embarked on a large-scale National Broadband Plan.

While Peru has been proactive against the pandemic, the economic cost has been high.

Jamaica could potentially see new operator Rock Mobile enter its telecoms market with a former banking executive at the helm after enquiries were made with the country’s regulator on new entrant market conditions.

Regional Brazilian operator Sercomtel announced a voluntary layoff plan with the aim to reduce its 456 staff by 50%, as part of urgent plans to reduce massive debt and ensure the survival of the company.

Mexican regulator IFT (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones) has approved a public tender for 41 blocks of spectrum across the 800MHz, 1900MHz, 1700MHz/2100MHz and 2.5GHz bands.

Uruguay’s government is appointing a database administrator to begin implementing mobile number portability after many delays.

Cuba’s state-run operator ETECSA (Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba) has affirmed its goal of delivering fixed, wireless or mobile broadband to all districts in the Havana province before the end of 2021.

Tower One Wireless has stated that it has 75 new cell sites under construction across Latin America.

Vogel Telecom has partnered with Ciena to deploy Sao Paulo’s first 800G optical network.

Gilat Satellite Networks won another contract to boost mobile connectivity, this time to expand signal for two Mexican operators in a multi-million-dollar deal from AXESS Networks.

The Brazilian government will not prevent Huawei from competing in 5G auction which is due to be held in June, a potential blow to US government efforts in restricting the manufacturer.

Chile’s regulator Subtel has confirmed that it now plans to auction several 5G frequencies across several rounds of bidding after a stalemate between the initial technical offers received from the country’s major players.

Investment company Scale Capital was reportedly considering a mobile services launch, following up to its recent acquisition of DirecTV's broadcast business.

A partnership to help satellite service providers access Brazil’s connectivity market has been announced between satellite connectivity provider SatADSL and Telespazio, a satellite solutions and services company with a wide international network of space centres and teleports.

The only English-speaking nation in South America, Guyana has a small population which traditionally had one of the lowest GDP rates in the region. Although GDP growth had been steady in recent years, the sale of oil from offshore reserves which started in February 2020 promises to completely transform the economy.

The Peruvian Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) announced it will invest PEN15 billion ($415 million) as part of measures to bring 4G connectivity to over a million citizens who have never had access to mobile services before.

Claro Brasil has selected Ribbon’s SBC Software Edition to expand and secure their extensive Voice over IP network.

News from several countries across Central and Latin America has emerged in the past few days, with regulators laying out plans for the year to come.

Mexico’s Movistar has completed the first phase of it network migration initiative, under which it has connected subscribers across several states to infrastructure operated by AT&T Mexico.

The Colombian Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) demanded operators to pen interconnection agreements with new entrant Partners Telecoms Colombia, ahead of the debutant’s launch of its WOM brand in Colombia.

The Bahamas’ Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) is assessing the viability of introducing a third operator to the archipelago’s mobile market to compete with ALIV and BTC (Bahamas Telecommunications Company).

Mexico’s Grupo Alfa has abandoned its plans to sell its telecoms arm Axtel despite a high number of interested bidders.

The Dominican Republic’s fixed-line teledensity is well below the Latin American average, a legacy of under-investment in network infrastructure over the years.

Last week saw the opening of the Chile Cloud Region, computer technology corporation Oracle’s 29th cloud region worldwide. Latin American customers and partners will now have regional access to many of Oracle’s cloud services.

TIM Brasil revealed it acquired the lion’s share of rival Oi’s assets after it, Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) and Claro Brasil joined forces to acquire the troubled operator’s assets for BRL16.5 billion ($3.2 billion).

According to a number of news outlets, operator Liberty Latin America is considering an acquisition of Telefonica’s businesses in Colombia and Ecuador.

Brazil’s embattled operator Oi has sold its mobile assets to the sole party that bid on them – a consortium of rival operators Claro Brasil, Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) and TIM Brasil.

Colombian operator WOM is deploying 125 cellular backhaul sites in partnership with Axess Networks as it seeks to connect rural areas as part of its nationwide build-out.