To apply the Group's collective expertise and experience with CDMA to the specific needs of the region, the CDG has formed a Latin America and Caribbean Interest Group. This team acts as a central resource for promoting CDMA and its 3G path via CDMA2000 throughout the region and assisting operators who are evaluating or implementing CDMA systems as well as Governments who are interested in wireless developments. Conference calls, special events, such as regional and in-country forums, and conferences, and site visits are part of the work of this group. If you are a member of the CDG and would like to participate on this team, please contact Celedonio von Wuthenau.
The CDG has also established a CDMA Americas Operators Roaming Team to facilitate the smooth implementation of CDMA roaming in the region, improve service offerings and expand coverage. The team is lead by Ricardo Sarti, regional director for international roaming, who assists operators in the region in business and technical implementation of international roaming, including CDMA2000 3G data roaming. For more information on the team, please contact Ricardo Sarti.
The CDG regularly holds events including press activities, regional and country conferences, presents at industry events, and participates in meetings with governments and regulators, and in CITEL and ITU meetings, as follows.
For more information on these events, please contact Celedonio von Wuthenau.
Media Lunch and Press Tour (Brazil, December 6-7, 2005)
The CDG hosted an end-of-year press luncheon in Sao Paulo to reinforce our ties with the local press, to share our key messages, to give them an overview on CDMA evolution and its presence worldwide and regional, and to discuss the Brazilian market. CDG members VIVO, LG, Lucent, Motorola, Nortel, Qualcomm and ZTE also participated. Journalists attended from Folha de Sao Paulo, América Economia, Executivos Financeiros, Frecuencia Latinoamericana, RTI, World Telecom, IDG Now, Tele-Síntese and Wnews as well as analysts from IDC and Forrester Research. The day after the luncheon, we participated in interviews with Jornal Telecom, Teletime and O Dia in Rio de Janeiro.
CariCam Mobile 2005 (Grand Bahama, November 9-10, 2005)
The CDG presented the “Evolution path for CDMA2000 to 1X, 1xEV-DO and Beyond,” in which we highlighted the growth of the CDMA2000 market in the Caribbean and the evolution of CDMA2000 compared to WCDMA. CDMA operators Centennial Puerto Rico, Centennial Dominicana, Verizon Dominicana, MiPhone Jamaica and Sprint Nextel also participated in the event. New CDMA operators are coming soon to the region. Batelco ( Bahamas) announced CDMA2000 deployment, Telesur ( Suriname) said they are going to deploy CDMA450, and BTL ( Belize) announced CDMA2000 in the 800 MHz band. There is strong interest in CDMA for roaming services as well as for fixed and broadband services.
CDMA450 Regional Conference (Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 3-4, 2005)
The CDG endorsed the CDMA450 Regional Conference. There were more than 130 attendees. The CDG spoke on CDMA450 and moderated a manufacturers’ panel (Qualcomm, Lucent, Alvarion, Huawei, ZTE and Nortel). Regulators, manufacturers, operators, IA450 and the CDG discussed CDMA450 from regulatory, technical, operational and commercial perspectives. The CDG’s presentation was entitled “CDMA450 – Facilitating Connectivity and Social Inclusion in Latin America.”
Futurecom 2005 (Florianopolis, Brazil, October 24-27, 2005)
The CDG held a press conference with VIVO, Qualcomm Brazil, Lucent Brazil and Nortel Brazil. Journalists attended from O Globo (RJ), TV Cultura, Revista Empreendedor, Jornal do Brasilia (DF), Correio Braziliense (DF), B2B Magazine, Baguete Diário, RNT, Diário do Comércio (SP), WNews, Jornal do Brasil (RJ), Teletime, Agencia Estado, Information Technology, Gazeta do povo (Paraná), Telám (Argentina), Serie Estudos and IDG Now. We discussed CDMA2000 compared to WCDMA, CDMA2000’s worldwide and regional presence, CDG activities supporting CDMA, and the Brazilian market. We emphasized that CDMA2000 1X will continue to grow and attain national coverage in Brazil and that wireless competition will be more focused on services. The media asked questions about roaming, worldphone and 3G in Brazil.
Our message was reinforced by announcements by Nokia and VIVO of the worldwide launch of four new handsets and by Motorola and Nortel of the expansion of VIVO’s 1xEV-DO network in Brazil’s main cities.
ITU Telecom Americas (Bahia, October 3-6, 2005)
The CDG participated in a plenary panel, “Mobile Americas,” with Qualcomm, VIVO, Nokia, Siemens and the UMTS Forum. Our presentation, “ Driving the Communication Revolution – lessons learned from the IMT-2000 experience,” discussed how the ITU’s vision of 3G is becoming a reality today and ways to continue growing 3G worldwide and in the Americas. The CDG also participated in interviews with Telecom TV, Frecuencia Latina, Tele-semana radio, America Economía and RNT.
Seminar: “3G no Brasil” (Sao Paulo, September 2, 2005)
The CDG participated in a panel with VIVO and ANATEL on the 3G market in Brazil.
Movistar’s 1xEV-DO Project (Guatemala, August 31, 2005)
The CDG participated in the official launch of Movistar’s CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network in Guatemala. , Movistar is using EV-DO to offer broadband fixed and mobile services.
Meeting with the Paraguayan Telecom regulator CONATEL (Asunción, August 25, 2005)
The CDG met with the Paraguayan telecom regulator CONATEL to discuss CDMA450 for rural telecommunications services. We also met with the state owned telecom company COPACO regarding 450.
Webinar: “3G in Latin America: Market Opportunities for Advanced Multimedia Services – An Operator Perspective” (Sao Paulo, August 24, 2005)
The CDG held a Webinar organized by Tele-semana. Celedonio von Wuthenau (CDG) discussed 3G CDMA technologies, CDMA’s presence worldwide and in the region, and 3G services. Roger Sole (VIVO) presented VIVO’s experiences with CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO and the new services launched under the name “VIVO 3G PLAY”. There were more than 100 attendees. The webinar can be viewed at: http://www.telesemanawebinars.com/info/tsw1.
Rio Wireless 2005 (Rio de Janeiro, May 23-24, 2005)
The CDG participated on a panel, “Value Added Services in the Wireless World,” with the UMTS Forum. We spoke about new 3G business models and the applications/services 3G operators are offering to their customers. We also met with Brazilian journalists from Plano Editoril, IDG Now, DCI, Gazeta Mercantil/InvestNews, Jornal do Brasil and Agencia Estado to discuss 3G, CDMA2000 advantages, new applications in the mobile telephony, mobile wireless data, mobile competition in the Brazilian market and customers’ expectations.
CITEL, PCC II meeting ( Guatemala, April 26-29, 2005)
At the Guatemala meeting, CITEL PCCII approved a recommendation on the use of the 450 MHz bands in the Americas. In the document titled “Use of the 410-430 MHz and 450-470 MHz Bands for Fixed and Mobile Services for Digital Communications Particularly in Low Population Density Areas,” CITEL allows administrations in the Americas to use these frequencies for fixed and mobile, for voice and data services in rural, low population density as well as urban areas. The recommendation is a result of responses to a CITEL questionnaire and supporting contributions from administrations and the industry. The CDG submitted a response to the questionnaire, encouraged administrations to provide feedback, supported a positive consideration of the band and actively participated in the meetings. This document will help the CDMA industry to promote CDMA450 solutions in the Latin American and Caribbean regions.
2005 CDMA Latin America Regional Conference ( Rio de Janeiro, April 18-20, 2005)
The CDG hosted the 2005 CDMA Latin America Regional Conference for more than 300 wireless industry representatives. The conference theme was the commercial success and future opportunities for CDMA2000 in the Caribbean and Latin America. Topics included evolving to broadband data, providing universal access, and developing and delivering innovative advanced services. In addition to plenary sessions, there was a half-day forum on regional roaming ( CDMA Latin America Roaming Forum ) and an operators’ meeting on roaming ( CDMA Latin America Operators Roaming Meeting ) . A CDMA450 Workshop on technology, devices, business cases, success stories and regulatory perspectives was also well attended.
AHCIET MOVIL/CTIA ( New Orleans, March 16, 2005)
At AHCIET MOVIL‘s Latin American Conference at CTIA, entitled “The New Phase of Mobile Telephony in Latin America,” the CDG participated in a panel discussing GSM versus CDMA technologies in Latin America” with Qualcomm, 3G Americas and GSMA Latin America. We showed that 3G CDMA has good momentum and will dominate the market.
Telexpo 2005 ( Sao Paulo, March 1-4, 2005)
At Telexpo, the CDG met with journalists and analysts from Folha de Sao Paulo, Rede@Telecom, Frost & Sullivan, Telebrasil, Teletime, Jornal Telecom, and DCI (Diario do Comercio e da Industria). The interviews focused on CDMA2000 worldwide and in Latin America, the Brazilian mobile market, 3G in Brazil and the evolution of 3G CDMA.
Latin America Activities Archive
