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Director, access engineering, Embratel Brasil: “The impact of 4G cannot be exaggerated”

Luiz Fernando de Castro Bourdot, director access engineering at Embratel Brasil

Luiz Fernando de Castro Bourdot, director access engineering at Embratel Brasil is taking part in a panel discussion on Day Two of the Broadband LATAM conference taking place on the 2nd and 3rd July at the at the Grand Hyatt, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Ahead of the show we find out more about Embratel is getting ready for the data surge ahead of the sporting events taking place in the country in the next few years.

Sprint files suit to block Dish Clearwire acquisition

is attempting to derail Dish's acquisition attempt

Sprint has filed a lawsuit in a bid to block the acquisition of 49.8 per cent of Clearwire by Dish Networks. The suit, which alleges that Dish’s tender offer for Clearwire is unactionable, is the latest twist in the story of Sprint’s evolution and Dish’s desire for US spectrum assets.

Clearwire board votes for Dish over Sprint

Clearwire directors have unanimously voted to recommend an offer from Dish Network

The board of directors at US wimax (and proposed LTE) operator Clearwire has unanimously voted to recommend an offer from US satellite provider Dish Network, rather than mobile operator Sprint. Dish Network has offered to acquire all outstanding common shares of Clearwire at a price of $4.40 per share while Sprint offered just $3.40 per share.

Softbank ups Sprint offer

Softbank and Sprint hope that the improved offer will win over shareholders.

Japan’s Softbank has increased the value of its offer for US carrier Sprint by $1.5bn to $21.6bn in an attempt to seal shareholder acceptance of the deal. As well as increasing the total amount payable the deal has been restructured to give shareholders an additional $4.5bn.

Telus abandons Mobilicity acquisition

Telus has abandoned its efforts to acquire smaller Canadian operator Mobilicity

Canadian operator Mobilicity has announced that its proposed acquisition by Telus has been officially abandoned.

Nearly one billion broadband subs expected by 2018

Global broadband revenues to continue rising

The number of broadband subscribers worldwide will increase by around 50 per cent over the next five years to reach 940 million by the end of 2018, with Asia-Pacific driving much of this growth according to new figures from UK research firm Point Topic.

Canada blocks Telus’ bid for Mobilicity licences

Canada’s government has blocked mobile operator Telus’ application to transfer Mobilicity's spectrum licences to the firm

Canada’s government has blocked mobile operator Telus’ application to transfer Mobilicity’s spectrum licences to the firm. Telus agreed to acquire the smaller Canadian operator for $380m in May, pending regulatory approval. Mobilicity has over 250,000 subscribers and 150 employees, according to Telus.

Canada introduces telecoms code

The CRTC has issued a wireless code for operators in a bid to make it easier for subscribers to understand their contracts and their basic rights

Canada’s telecoms regulator the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has issued a wireless code for operators in a bid to make it easier for subscribers to understand their contracts and their basic rights.

Rogers and Vidéotron bring LTE to Ottawa and Québec

Canada flag

Canadian mobile operator Rogers has signed a 20 year agreement with telecoms firm Vidéotron to bring LTE services to customers in the Québec and Ottawa regions.

European telecom sector needs in-market consolidation, says Portugal Telecom CEO

Zeinal Bava, CEO, Portugal Telecom

The CEO of Portuguese incumbent Portugal Telecom, which also holds 23.34 per cent of Brazilian player Oi, has voiced concern over Europe’s ability to continue to compete on the global telecoms stage if further consolidation among the operator community is not encouraged.

HomeGrid Forum merges with HomePNA Alliance

The new organisation will push for a smooth transition to G.hn

Two industry bodies supporting wireline home networking have merged to create a single organisation that counts more than 70 members, including 28 service providers such as AT&T, BT and Telefónica.

Dish says Softbank poses national security threat

Dish Network has accused Softbank, of posing a threat to US national security.

US satellite TV player has stirred controversy in its bid to acquire mobile operator Sprint by accusing rival bidder, Japanese operator Softbank, of posing a threat to US national security.

AT&T to gain over $730m annually from monthly admin fee

AT&T has imposed a $0.61 monthly fee on its postpaid users, standing to gain around $732m in extra revenue as a result

US operator AT&T has imposed a $0.61 monthly fee on its postpaid users, standing to gain around $732m in extra revenue as a result. The Mobility Administrative Fee was introduced this month.

YouTube: “100 hours of content is uploaded every minute; content discovery is very important”

Eric Mauskopf, Business Development, YouTube

Eric Mauskopf, Business Development, YouTube is delivering the opening keynote on Day Two of the Broadband LATAM conference, taking place on 2 – 3 July 2013 at the Grand Hyatt, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Ahead of the show we speak to him about his role at YouTube, what he’s working on right now and what YouTube plans are for future growth.

BitTorrent traffic dropping sharply in US, as VOD wins favour

BitTorrent usage is dropping in the US as consumer switch to paid services, report claims

The amount of traffic generated in the US by BitTorrent, the file sharing internet protocol , has dropped significantly, according to a report from policy control company Sandvine.

Over the past six months BitTorrent accounted for 9.2 per cent of peak-period traffic, down from 11.3 per cent in 2012 and 17.2 per cent in 2011, the report said. Sandvine attributes the drop in the usage of the file sharing protocol to the increasing availability of subscriber-based, paid-for, on-demand content from applications such as Netflix. Indeed, online video service Netflix maintained a 29 per cent peak-period traffic share in the US, ahead of YouTube, which climbs to 15.4 per cent compared to 13.8 per cent in 2012.

Millennials streaming media to living rooms

In-home media streaming is on the up

US broadband homes are increasingly choosing to place their router in the living room rather than home office in order to better serve their connected video devices, according to The Diffusion Group.

CWC and Columbus form Caribbean sub-sea JV

The submarine network extends around the Caribbean

UK-based Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) on Tuesday entered into a strategic alliance with the Caribbean’s Columbus Networks, to form a joint venture to provide wholesale bandwidth capacity in the Caribbean and Americas Region.

Sprint blames equipment vendors for Network Vision delays

Sprint Nextel has blamed delays by equipment vendors stifling the rollout of its Network Vision project

US operator Sprint Nextel has blamed delays caused by equipment vendors for stifling the rollout of its Network Vision project, in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, the operator said that it had been forced to revise its plans to bring 12,000 multi-mode base stations on-air by the end of 2012, pushing the deadline back to 1Q13.

CEO of TIM Fiber, Brazil: “Operators should play a key role in offering end-to-end cloud solutions to the business market”

Rogerio Takayanagi is CEO of TIM Fiber, Brasil

Rogerio Takayanagi, CEO of TIM Fiber, Brasil, is speaking on Day One of the Broadband LATAM conference taking place on 2-3 July 2013 at the Grand Hyatt, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Ahead of the show we speak to him about how Brazil’s broadband infrastructure is developing at a pace and how TIM Brasil is readying itself for the rapid expansion of demand for data in the country.

Telefonica offloads stake in four LatAm units

Telefonica has sold 40 per cent of its assets in four Central American markets to family-owned Latin American business group CMI

Spanish operator group Telefonica has sold 40 per cent of its assets in four Central American markets to family-owned Latin American business group CMI for $500m. Telefonica’s operations in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama will be merged into a new joint venture with CMI.

@telecoms