Latin American Countries Seen Falling Behind on Spectrum for Broadband
No Latin American country hit the halfway mark on the ITU’s recommendation that they allocate 1,300 MHz of spectrum for mobile broadband in 2015, 5G Americas said in a report released Tuesday. Four countries were above 30 percent of the…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
target, the group said: Argentina at 31 percent; Brazil, 41.7 percent; Chile, 35.8 percent; and Nicaragua, 32.3 percent. El Salvador (16 percent), Guatemala (16.2 percent) and Panama (16.9 percent) were below 20 percent, 5G Americas said. “The lack of sufficient spectrum for the development of mobile services has a negative impact on both consumers, who are deprived of innovative services with optimum performance, and the telecommunications industry, whose growth potential is limited,” said José Otero, director-Latin America and the Caribbean for 5G Americas, in a news release. “Spectrum frequencies are necessary for technological development to materialize in the way of services that benefit society by meeting the growing need for broadband, a key element in the economic progress of communities. This document reveals that more internationally harmonized spectrum is needed throughout the region.” At the end of 2015, the 850 MHz band was the only band allocated for broadband throughout the region, 5G Americas said. Meanwhile, 14 markets had allocated the AWS 1.7/2.1 GHz bands for mobile broadband, and five, the 2.5 GHz band, the group said.