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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Today's News Headlines
* Entel PCS, Banco de Chile launch mobile banking platform - Chile
* CAGR of 30% expected in mobile broadband chipset sales 2009-14 - Regional
* Intec sees opportunities in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil this year - Regional
* Roundup: Cofetel, Motorola, number portability, Túpac Katari satellite - Regional
* Telefónica reiterates targets despite devalued bolívar - Regional, Venezuela
* SCT decides to not renew 24 licenses for paging, TV - Mexico
* WiFi Direct by mid-2011, says WiFi Alliance - Regional
* Vivendi, Televisa to make joint bid for spectrum - Mexico
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* Entel PCS, Banco de Chile launch mobile banking platform - Chile
Chilean mobile operator Entel PCS has teamed up with the country's second largest bank Banco de Chile (NYSE: BCH) to launch a mobile banking solution which is accessible for users of all types of phones.
The solution, called Cuenta Móvil, allows prepaid and postpaid customers to set up a bank account and make intra-bank transfers as well as withdraw cash from an ATM. Banco de Chile has 350 branches and more than 1,250 ATMs activated for the service.
However, once an exclusivity period of several months is up, Entel expects more banks to use the platform, which would enable interbank and intercompany transfers, Entel PCS president Richard Büchi told reporters.
Entel PCS will charge 120 pesos (US$0.24) per transaction, while the bank will charge the typical maintenance and related fees, Büchi said.
People opening a mobile bank account can do so with a maximum balance of 300,000 pesos and can carry out transfers of up to 50,000 pesos at a time.
"The idea of this account is micro payments. It's not intended for large bank transactions, rather minor transactions that people carry out in their daily lives," Büchi added.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM KENYA, THE US AND BRAZIL
Martin Cook, Entel PCS's assistant manager for new business lines, told BNamericas that Entel PCS had adopted the mobile banking solution as part of its strategic partnership with Vodafone, signed in 2008.
One of the most successful markets where Vodafone has implemented such a solution is in Kenya where some 50% of Vodafone's customers use mobile banking after just 4-5 years of the solution being launched.
"Our objective is to achieve the same success as Vodafone, so we're talking about an annual growth rate of 10% to end this year with some 500,000-600,000 users and keep growing until we reach 50% of our client base in approximately five years," Cook said.
Entel has some 6mn clients.
Cook said there is a lot of potential for mobile banking in emerging markets which tend to have high mobile penetration but a low level of people with bank accounts.
Other cases Entel looked at are Nokia (NYSE: NOK), which launched a service in the US aimed at more high-end users through mobile payments company Obopay, in which Nokia bought a stake, and Brazilian telco Oi, which allows customers to make payments and top up their bank accounts.
The greatest challenge to adoption is convincing a market that has been used to traditional pay methods to trust in the mobile platform, Cook said.
Asked whether the new service was expected to add a lot of profitability to the Entel PCS network, Büchi said the idea was to create a new use for cell phones and demonstrate the company is constantly innovating.
This year, competition is due to heighten in the Chilean market with the entrance of two new mobile players - cable operator VTR and digital trunking company Nextel - and with the introduction of number portability.
By Patrick Nixon
Business News Americas
* CAGR of 30% expected in mobile broadband chipset sales 2009-14 - Regional
IDC expects mobile broadband chipset sales to see a CAGR in Latin America of 30% from 2009-14, Flint Pulskamp, wireless semiconductor analyst for IDC, told BNamericas.
Sales will reach US$467mn in 2014 compared to US$161mn in 2010. According to the analyst, the growth refers to sales from chipset suppliers to OEMs/manufacturers of products and not to the end products.
Such chipsets end up being used in netbooks, notebooks, dongles, e-book readers and industrial medical equipment - in other words, all devices with embedded or external chipsets.
"This is greater than the expected growth in the US, Japan or Canada, and is about the same as western, central and eastern Europe, but not as high as the Middle East, Africa, which are starting from a lower base, or Asia Pacific," Pulskamp said.
IDC expects cellular chipsets to grow at 9.3% CAGR worldwide from 2009 to 2014.
According to Pulskamp, cellular chipsets are the semiconductor engines that enable every mobile phone to connect to one another; so consequently, the growth in mobile phones to over 1.1bn last year provided a "stunning" rise in the cellular chipset market.
Increasingly, a greater percentage of cellular chipsets are being used in non-mobile phone applications, such as mobile computing, industrial/machine-to-machine (M2M) technology, automotive, health and medical equipment, and consumer devices such as eReaders, mobile internet devices and gaming devices, IDC says.
Growth in the portable PC market in Latin America slowed considerably during the first half of 2009 due to the global economic slowdown and is expected to log a 15% decline in full year 2009 shipments. But growth is expected to rebound this year and grow 10-12% in 2010, Pulskamp said.
Latin America has been seeing CAGR of 35-40% in recent years in terms of mobile traffic, he added.
The analyst underscored the importance of the upcoming 3G spectrum auctions in Mexico this year.
Countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela have penetration rates above 100% and similar to North America, while Chile, Brazil and Colombia have penetration rates of over 90% and are also showing robust mobile growth.
That said, some Latin American countries have much lower penetration, such as Nicaragua, Bolivia and Costa Rica at about 50% or less and therefore, before drawing conclusions about the forecast for Latin America, one should take into account the differences in these markets, Pulskamp said.
By Patrick Nixon
Business News Americas
* Intec sees opportunities in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil this year - Regional
British business and operations support systems supplier Intec sees opportunities this year in certain Latin American markets such as Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, the company's VP for Latin America, Raúl Rodríguez, told BNamericas.
"Latin America offers a very strong opportunity for Intec in 2010. Analysts such as Gartner expect growth for business support services [BSS] in Latin America to remain high, behind only the Middle East and Africa in terms of growth," the executive said.
"While the global recession slightly impacted the market opportunity in CALA in 2009 by delaying decision making and spending, we anticipate that this will not be the case in 2010 and in the future, expecting the region to contribute a much larger share in terms of revenue for Intec," Rodríguez added.
Intec currently supports the operations of 49 customers in 29 countries across the region with 105 implementations of its various products. "These include the multi-country operations of all the major regional players including Digicel, Telefónica, Cable & Wireless and América Móvil. We have a number of opportunities in 2010 with existing customers as well as new prospects, and conservatively expect to grow both our number of overall customers as well as product implementations by a single digit percentage," he added.
Commenting on the company's outlook for this year, the executive said market needs could become a good business opportunity for Intec. "Market forecasts from leading consultancy firms underscore the demand for complex content and the need for the infrastructure to support these market offers. Mobile content requires real-time charging, which is a strength in the Intec portfolio. Furthermore, the adoption of new smartphones and super smartphones is driving new business models with content and partner revenue management requirements that Intec's solutions address very well," the executive added.
Intec's portfolio includes charging and billing products, mediation systems and interconnection and wholesale products.
By Juan Pedro Tomás
Business News Americas
* Roundup: Cofetel, Motorola, number portability, Túpac Katari satellite - Regional
Since a new law came into effect in April 2009 that obliges mobile operators in Mexico to request from each subscriber a document confirming the subscriber's address and other identification, 29mn subscribers have registered their numbers, telecoms watchdog Cofetel said in a statement.
In Mexico, there are some 79mn mobile users. Registration of all customers must be completed by April 10. If a subscriber fails to register his number, his line will be blocked. The idea is to cut down on delinquent use of mobile phones in committing crimes.
According to the regulations, an entity called Renapo will be responsible for management of the database - dubbed Renaut. The entity will have the support of service providers.
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Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) enterprise mobility and government unit has implemented wireless broadband solutions linking five campuses of Mexico's UNAM university, Motorola said in a statement.
The solution providing wireless voice, data and video will benefit some 1,400 academics and administrative staff and more than 10,000 students.
For the project, Motorola deployed 14 pairs of point-to-point radio equipment with four links for each campus (two of 100Mbps and two of 20Mbps).
***
More than 465,000 people requested to port their numbers to a different telecoms operator in Brazil in December, news service TI Inside reported, citing telecoms standards coordinator ABR Telecom.
Of that amount, 73% was for mobile numbers and the remainder for fixed.
***
Bolivia's President Evo Morales is due to visit China in the second half of March to sign a final agreement with the latter's government to build a satellite that would go into orbit in 2013, Bolivian press reported.
Before Morales' trip, the country will set up a space agency. Construction of the satellite - dubbed Túpac Katari in honor of an indigenous leader who rebelled against the Spanish colonizers in the 18th century - would cost an estimated US$300mn.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Telefónica reiterates targets despite devalued bolívar - Regional, Venezuela
Spanish telephony giant Telefónica (NYSE: TEF) has confirmed its outlook through 2012 despite Venezuelan monetary authorities deciding last Friday (Jan 8) to devalue the national currency, the bolívar, the company reported to the market.
Telefónica will meet its guidance for 2010 of earnings per share of 2.10 euros and its target to increase revenue at a CAGR of 1-4% until 2012, international press quoted a company spokesperson as saying.
The bolívar, whose rate is set by government decree, will be devalued from its current 2.15 per US dollar to 2.60 for "priority" imports; meanwhile, for items dubbed "non-essential," the bolívar will be worth 4.30.
The move effectively cuts in half Telefónica's reported US$2bn in cash it has in bolívares in the country that represents about 7% of the group's revenues.
Investment bank Sanford Bernstein predicted in a note to clients that Telefónica's revenue will fall by about 2bn euros (US$2.90bn) and Ebitda by some 1bn euros as a result of the devaluation, Reuters reported. The investment bank also called into question whether Telefónica will be able to cover a dividend payment of 1.40 euros this year.
"It's hard to see how Telefónica will meet its earnings per share targets after the Venezuelan devaluation," Dow Jones quoted ING analyst Georgios Ierodiaconou as saying. "The company will also be facing tighter scrutiny now about where exactly its growth in Latin America is coming from, whether it is real or inflation-driven." He estimated that the devaluation will reduce group revenue by 4% and net income by 10%.
Lisbon-based brokerage BPI added that the company could suffer further if it has to implement inflation accounting practices for Venezuela, which would penalize net profits, Dow Jones reported.
The devaluation is President Hugo Chávez's attempt to increase revenue from oil exports. The president said it was to "boost the productive economy, to reduce imports that aren't strictly necessary and to stimulate exports." On the parallel, unofficial market the bolívar trades as high as six per US dollar.
Telefónica has been looking to repatriate its earnings in the country at the official rate. Meanwhile, over the weekend Venezuelans packed shopping centers and other areas of business in a buying frenzy before their money was declared worth a lot less.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* SCT decides to not renew 24 licenses for paging, TV - Mexico
Mexico's transport and communications ministry SCT has decided to not renew 24 concession licenses - 22 for paging and two for pay TV and radio - and plans to use the spectrum for new technologies, SCT said in a statement.
The government authority said its decision was due to the fact that the requests for renewal of the licenses were either not presented in time or because the concessionaires wished to use broadcast technology considered obsolete.
SCT has been on a drive since last year to seek greater efficiency in the use of spectrum to stimulate a more competitive market.
SCT also assigned to the government of the state of Baja California the use of certain spectrum bands for developing government activities.
In addition, the ministry has enacted measures that are expected to enable foreign and local companies to operate satellite signals in a more efficient manner for pay TV and data transmission.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* WiFi Direct by mid-2011, says WiFi Alliance - Regional
The newest version of WiFi technology - WiFi Direct - is expected to be available worldwide, including Latin America, by mid-2011, Argentine paper El Cronista reported WiFi Alliance executive director Edgar Figueroa as saying.
WiFi Direct is expected to run five times faster than current WiFi connections and cover two times the service area.
The new technology "will make WiFi equipment more useful since they already exist, and [the technology] will be installed in new products. This technology will replace almost all cables," Figueroa said. "Further, it won't need a network. The potential is already in the equipment to connect the products [such as laptops] between themselves."
At the same time, most WiFi enabled devices will have to get a software upgrade for the new program. The latest version of Windows already has WiFi Direct installed, he noted.
Currently, the challenge is establishing the inter-operability program, which would allow products of different brands to connect between themselves, without the need for an internet connection, Figueroa added.
The WiFi Alliance, formed in 1999, is a global non-profit organization with the goal of driving adoption of a single worldwide standard for high-speed wireless local area networking.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Vivendi, Televisa to make joint bid for spectrum - Mexico
French telecommunications and entertainment group Vivendi and Mexican media group Televisa have allied to launch a joint bid for a mobile license in Mexico, local press reported.
Local newspaper Excelsior reported that negotiations between the two companies are well advanced, and that a partnership agreement is expected to be reached by February 15.
Mexico's telecoms regulator Cofetel said over the weekend that 93 companies acquired bidding rules for an auction for spectrum in the 1.7GHz-1.9GHz bands that went on sale from January 6-8. Winners are expected to be announced by mid-year.
The newspaper reported that Televisa and Vivendi plan to invest over US$3mn in the project, marking Vivendi's second venture into the Latin American telecoms market.
In November, Vivendi acquired Brazilian telephone carrier and internet service provider GVT Holding by buying up outstanding shares and beating off competition for GVT from Spain's Telefónica (NYSE: TEF).
The French group now owns 85.7% of GVT's shares and is due to carry out a public offer for the remainder.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
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In-deph interview
* Preparing the network for application enablement
Victor Agnellini
Corporate VP of transformation
Alcatel-Lucent
Regional
http://www.bnamericas.com/interviews/telecommunications/Victor_Agnellini_,Alcatel-Lucent,1/169679378
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Main companies covered in today's news
* Organismo Supervisor de Inversión Privada en Telecomunicaciones
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Organismo_Supervisor_de_Inversion_Privada_en_Telecomunicaciones-Osiptel/169679378
* Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Secretaria_de_Comunicaciones_y_Transportes-SCT_Mexico/169679378
* Banco de Chile S.A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Banco_de_Chile_S,A,-Banco_de_Chile/169679378
* GVT Holding S.A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/GVT_Holding_S,A,-GVT_Brasil/169679378
* Maxcom Telecomunicaciones S.A. de C.V.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Maxcom_Telecomunicaciones_S,A,_de_C,V,-Maxcom/169679378
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