A number of common themes emerged from the Latin American Spectrum conference, held in Mexico City on 7 and 8 September. A number of presenters showed predictions in growth of data traffic that were unusually coherent, indicating that growth would be between 10 to 14 times over the next 4 years. This figure excludes machine-to-machine (M2M) connections which could add hundreds of millions of new connections over the same period.

In Latin America, many operators have less spectrum than their European counterparts and much discussion centred around the need for rapid release of more spectrum in order to ensure a thriving and consumer friendly mobile communications market in the region. Further, whilst the number of operators in the various Latin American countries is sufficient to engender strong competition, in many countries the strength of one or two operators together with the lack of, for example, universal service obligations, means that competition is not meeting consumer interests.

Luis Lucatero of Cofetel gave a vivid demonstration of how demand could realistically be dealt with, showing that with 4 times more infrastructure (cell sites), a 4 times increase in the efficiency of technology, and a 4 times growth in the amount of spectrum available, demand for data might just be met. There may just be 4 times more spectrum available, however it is clear that within 10 years, the supply of spectrum will be exhausted (both in Latin America and across the globe). There was a general feeling that technology would deal with this, but with LTE-Advanced already approaching the Shannon limit, questions remain as to whether there is much scope for future improvements.

Contact the author

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Spectrum & Telecoms Director
Tel: +44 1252 451 686
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/rvwomersley

View Blog Archive