The Latin American smartphone market recorded a fourth consecutive quarter of growth after being fuelled by affordable devices.

On August 8th, operations commenced at Yangtze Optics Mexico Cable S.A. de C.V. in Mexico’s Jalisco State, marking the establishment of Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company's (YOFC) first production facility in the nation.

Liberty Latin America announced on Thursday that Liberty Costa Rica will merge with Millicom International Cellular’s Tigo Costa Rica via an all-stock deal focused on boosting investment in fibre networks in the country.

Millicom International Cellular says it has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to acquire a 67.50% stake in Colombia Telecomunicaciones (aka Coltel or Telefonica Colombia) from owner Telefonica Hispanoamerica, for approximately US$400 million.

Telecentro, a leading telecommunications operator in Argentina, has selected the cOS broadband platform from Harmonic – a company that delivers virtualised broadband and video delivery solutions – to modernise its broadband network.

Google’s application for its Teros data centre project in the Parque de las Ciencias free trade zone in the Canelones department in the south of Uruguay has now been approved by the country’s Environment Ministry.

Costa Rican company Radiografica Costarricense SA (RACSA, a Grupo ICE company) has claimed a 5G first in the country with the launch of 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) services on the market, supported, it says, by the country's first and only network designed for this technology.

Brazilian telecoms regulator Anatel has expressed its disappointment  at a recent decision by another government agency, the electricity-focused Aneel to, essentially, abandon plans discussed by the two regulators on the vexed topic of infrastructure sharing or, more accurately, pole sharing.

Colombia's ICT ministry (MinTIC) has cancelled a tender to connect over 3,000 schools. However, it does seem as though the process to connect 3,082 public educational institutions for a total of COP408 billion (US$101.6 million) will reopen – in approximately one month, according to the ministry.

LORIOT, a long-range IoT solutions company, and LORATECH, an IoT technological solutions business, have joined forces in a partnership they say is set to transform the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape in Latin America.

The troubles of Brazilian service provider Oi seem to be continuing as attempts to sell off one of its businesses have run into new problems.

The Women in the Digital Economy Fund (WiDEF) announced on Wednesday the launch of its second competitive funding round for enterprises to develop and scale solutions that can narrow the gender digital divide in developing countries.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a source of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean, says it has approved a US$100 million loan to Brazil's federal government to improve digital connectivity and expand fixed broadband coverage in the country.

The second Mexican data centre from Brazilian company Odata, a provider of data centre services for Latin America that is controlled by US group Aligned Data Centres, has been reported as having started operations.

Satellite networking technology, solutions and services company Gilat Satellite Networks says it has received a follow-on six-year order worth over US$10 million from Internet Para Todos (IPT) to deliver cellular backhaul services across rural areas in Peru.

DIDWW, a provider of two-way SIP trunking services to operators and businesses all over the world, says it has expanded the coverage of its virtual phone numbers to another five territories.

If you needed a reminder of how tricky the situation regarding AI and privacy is going to be for both lawmakers and businesses from now on, one has recently come from Brazil where the country’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) has clearly got issues with technology giant Meta's AI privacy policy.

Latin American telecoms service provider Millicom has announced, through its Tigo Business division, what it calls a new phase in its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to jointly continue developing the adoption of cloud services.

Some very positive connectivity news comes from the Brazil-Colombia border where it is being reported that a fibre optics cable crossing Brazil's Amazonas state is finally ready to connect the Colombian city of Leticia two years after the project to link the two countries via fibre in the shared Amazon border area kicked off.

Nokia and telecom infrastructure organization Solis Tower Telecom do Brasil have partnered to provide connectivity to agribusinesses in rural parts of Brazil.

Nokia acquired Infinera for US$2.3 billion to increase its scale in optical networks, a move to bolster future products and improve its profit line.  

Telefonica’s Venezuelan unit Movistar announced plans to upgrade around 500 4G base stations.

Colombian operator Claro deployed the first stage of its 5G network offering fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband with vendor partner Nokia, in only four months since securing its 5G licence.

Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has approved financing worth R$41 million (US$7.5 million) for Um Telecom, a B2B operator focused on Brazil's Northeast region, to deploy the first Tier III data centre in the State of Pernambuco.

America Movil (AMX), a provider of telecommunications services across Latin America, and Liberty Latin America (LLA) ], a communications company with operations in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and other parts of Latin America, have announced that America Movil will be consolidating the Chilean joint venture ClaroVTR into its ongoing operations.

Chile’s Movistar Empresas, the business-focused division of operator Movistar, has announced the deployment of an LTE-M network in the country, which, it says, will allow organisations of various sizes to connect their Internet of Things (IoT) devices with greater energy efficiency.

Peru-based telecoms operator Global Fiber says it has selected Brazilian fibre-optic vendor Padtec and Peruvian telecoms firm Satelital as primary suppliers for a subsea ‘festoon’ network connecting two provincial capital cities in Brazil.

Claro Chile, a subsidiary of giant mobile network operator América Móvil, has won the second 5G tender in Chile, making it the fourth operator permitted to offer 5G services in the country.

Recent satellite internet news coming out of Latin America and India is a reminder that Starlink isn’t having things entirely its own way when it comes to satellite internet.

Only days after the news that multinational telecommunications company Digicel Group had announced that its new subsea fibre cable Deep Blue One, serving the Caribbean and the northeast tip of South America, had gone live, Infinera, a supplier of open optical networking solutions and advanced optical semiconductors, has announced that Digicel has deployed Infinera’s GX Series modular platform.