Mobile Broadband LatAm Looks at Expected Market Explosion

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 16, 2011 --(PR.com)-- The largest Latin American mobile network operators and global high-tech giants are meeting in Rio de Janeiro in April to strategize on how best to take advantage of the enormous explosion that is expected in the entire Latin American mobile broadband market. Mobile Broadband LatAm is the first event to bring together the entire industry ecosystem and takes place from 26-28 April.

MTN, the South African mobile operator and official partner at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is heading up a top list of industry experts at the conference and exhibition.

Essential commodity
The Mobile Broadband LatAm director, Andrea Monteiro, says mobile broadband is fast becoming an essential commodity in day to day life, especially in South America. “We are increasingly dependent on our iphones, ipads, blackberries, laptops, smartphones, PDAs”, says Andrea, “and Latin America is the fastest growing market for mobile broadband.”

According to Andrea Monteiro, the last couple of years have seen a sharp rise in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions, mobile devices sales and mobile data usage, which are all strong indicators of the growing demand of mobile broadband connectivity. Says Andrea: “Fixed broadband is problematic in this area and does not provide a reliable service, and so people are turning to mobile broadband. Several operators throughout Latin America are currently investing heavily in mobile broadband technologies, as the capacity demands soar.”

Demand for more, faster services
According to a Frost and Sullivan forecast the mobile broadband penetration is expected to rise by 40% of the entire Latin American population. Such rapid growth poses unique challenges, says Andrea: “Mobile network operators are seeing a sudden rise in customer numbers as well as a demand for more and faster services. As a result they need to increase their network capacity, coverage and bandwidth. This not only requires serious amounts of investment in upgrading their networks, but also means that they will have to revisit their marketing strategies to ensure that they are achieving as high an ROI as possible.”

Brazil largest telecoms market
Brazil was chosen as the location to launch the event as the country is the largest telecoms market in South America and because there have been a lot of developments in terms of subscription numbers and new services recently. “The most developed market is Chile”, says Mobile Broadband LatAm’s Andrea Monteiro, “in fact, they were first to trial LTE (long term evolution) in South America and one of the first in the world.” She continues: “Other important countries include Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela. There are also some interesting developments in the Caribbean region.”

Program highlights include:

MTN South Africa Case Study: Capitalizing on the World Cup opportunity to increase customer base and maximize revenues
- Cambridge Mokanyane, MTN Group General Manager – World Cup
Cost-effective strategies for overcoming the capacity crisis
- Janilson Bezerra, Innovation Technology Director, TIM Brazil
Effectively planning and rolling out a successful 3G network
- Miguel Oyonarte, General Counsel, Nextel
How to ensure your LTE roll-out is a success – a technical roadmap
- Jose Sandoval Arenas, Director of Technology Evolution, Entel PCS

Event dates: Conference: 26-27 April 2011, 28 April is a post-conference workshop.

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