Wireless Continues Gains In Latin America

Wireless technologies continue a steady pace of adoption throughout Latin America, as the region extends telecommunications services to rural areas that have never been served, and carriers seek to tap pent up demand for advanced services among consumers and businesses in metropolitan areas.

In Honduras, MultiFon and UTStarcom Inc. announced the first live commercial call over MultiFon's new wireless network. The network uses UTStarcom's iPAS solution, a wireless, local loop-based technology. The first call over the network was made by Honduran President Ricardo Maduro.MultiFon announced that it will deploy the technology this year in high-demand areas of Tegucigalpa, followed by San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba. Initially, MultiFon said it will be providing 150,000 lines.

As part of the network launch, President Maduro personally delivered the first MultiFon iPAS phone in Tegucigalpa to a resident who had been waiting for telephone service for more than 10 years. The Honduran government said that it already has received 200,000 more requests for telecommunications services.

And in Colombia, Orbitel S.A. ESP announced that it has received all deliveries for an Airspan Networks Inc. Internet access services network.

Based on Airspan's WipLL platform, Orbitel's new network will connect residential and business customers in five of Colombia's largest cities to Orbitel's data backbone network. Orbitel has been using WipLL since 2003, and reports that its system has been able to compete on a cost and performance basis with fixed wireline solutions. Orbitel expects to work with Airspan to deploy WiMAX technology in the near future.CDMA gained ground as a wireless transmission protocol in Latin America with the recent announcement that Brazil's telecommunications agency successfully tested CDMA 450 in the city of Brasilia and nearby locales. Anatel, the National Agency of Telecommunications in Brazil reported that approximately 3,000 rural residents received wireless access to voice and data services as part of a trial. The trial is part of Anatel's efforts to identify and prove technologies to address the digital divide in Latin America's most-populous nation.

CDMA trials also are taking place in Peru. Already, there are more than 33 million CDMA users in 20 Latin American and Caribbean nations. The region boasts the largest number of 3G commercially deployed CDMA2000 networks. With the July 6 signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between trade association the CDMA Development Group (CDG) and the Asociacion Hispanoamericana de Centros de Investigacion y Empresas de Telecomunicaciones (AHCIET), CDMA's adoption in Latin America is likely to increase.Under the terms of the agreement, AHCIET and CDG will exchange information and collaborate on conferences, seminars, meetings and roundtables related to CDMA2000 and the wireless communications in Latin America. They will also work together on regulatory issues.

AHCIETis a private non-profit institution, created in 1982, formed by more than 50 telecommunication companies in Latin America and Spain.

Meanwhile, GSM protocol deployment took a step forward in Mexico with Telefonica's announcement that it will roll out EDGE technology on its GSM network.

With EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution), Telefonica Moviles Mexico will deliver broadband capabilities exhibiting increased mobile data rates and higher web-browsing speeds. To support web-browsing, customer handsets also will be able to operate as high-speed mobile modems, with speeds as high as 240 kbps. Telefonica also will be rolling out online video streaming.0