Friday, 19 April 2024

The Status of Mobile Networks in Latin America

The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) represents the voice of the mobile ecosystem with members including vendors, operators, academia and regulators. GSA has nine Executive Members, including Apple, Ericsson, Huawei, MediaTek, Nokia, Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung and ZTE. With a further 80+ Members and Associates, GSA draws its membership from across the global mobile ecosystem, including mobile operators, regulators, analyst firms, academia and an extensive vendor community spanning chipsets to devices, and network equipment to FWA and private mobile specialists. GSA is a Market Representation Partner in 3GPP and co-operates with other key organisations including ITU, GCF, CITEL, COAI, ETSI, GSMA, CEPT-ECC, ATU, and other regional regulatory bodies.

The first GSA report closely tracking the status of 4G and 5G network deployment in Latin America was published earlier this month. It uses the latest GSA data and draws on various GSA reports, including private mobile networks, to provide a comprehensive overview of the status of 4G and 5G roll-outs in the region. Quoting from the paper summary:

In recent years, Latin America has witnessed significant advancements in telecommunications technology, particularly in mobile networks. The proliferation of 4G LTE networks has transformed the digital landscape, enabling faster data speeds, enhanced connectivity and the widespread adoption of mobile broadband services across the region. Moreover, the advent of 5G technology promises to usher in a new era of connectivity, characterized by ultrafast speeds, low latency and greater security.

This report delves into various aspects of mobile network evolution including the status of LTE, the roll-out of 5G networks, advancements in LTE-Advanced, the emergence of 5G standalone infrastructure, the development of private networks and the switch-off of 2G and 3G technologies.

You can download the paper from this page here.

In this regional spotlight webinar, the GSA Research team was joined by senior representatives from telecom regulators, including Alejandro Navarrete, Head of the Radioelectric Spectrum Unit at IFT and ANATEL’s Deputy Superintendent of Granting and Resources, Mr Sidney Azeredo, to explore the challenges and opportunities for 5G in the region. During the webinar, the GSA Research team shared the latest data on:

  • The status of LTE and 5G in the region
  • Private Networks in LATAM
  • Spectrum assignments, both recently completed and upcoming

Following the data snapshot is a roundtable discussion with regulators where the panel explores the market dynamics and what the future holds for 4G and 5G in their markets. The webinar is embedded below: