Telecoms news from Ecuador

Ecuador Suspends Exclusive Tower Lease Agreements

Ecuador's anti-monopoly watchdog has ordered the mobile networks to scrap any exclusivity clauses they signed on a large number of their base station towers and open up the infrastructure to competitors. ...more.

Alcatel-Lucent Wins 3G Network Contract in Ecuador

Alcatel-Lucent says that it has won a 3G network deployment contract from Ecuador's Corporacion Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CNT EP). ...more.

Movistar to Shut-Down CDMA Network at Year-End

Telefonica Movistar is planning to shut-down its legacy CDMA network in Ecuador at the end of this month, and is running campaigns to persuade the remaining users to switch to its WCDMA based 3G network. ...more.

Utiba Americas Wins Mobile Wallet Project From Central Bank of Ecuador

Mobile banking service provider, Utiba says that it's local joint venture subsidiary has won a contract to provide a hosted mobile wallet project for the Central Bank of Ecuador. ...more.

Mobile Broadband Positioned to Meet Unmet Demand in Ecuador

Operators in Ecuador are aggressively expanding their 3.5G HSPA coverage because they are all looking to mobile broadband as a way to sustain future growth, ...more.

Telefonica to Offer Push to Talk in Latin America

Telefonica is planning to roll out a push-to-talk service in its Latin American markets after signing a supply agreement with Conectel-Kodiak. ...more.

Mobile Operator Alegro Outsources Entire Supply Chain To Brightstar

Ecuadorian mobile network operator, Telecsa has outsourced its supply chain to handset distributor, Brightstar. ...more.

Ecuador's Correa says AT&T, Sprint, MCI owe fees

Ecuador's leftist president on Saturday accused U.S.-based telephone companies including AT&T, Sprint and MCI of "swindling" his country out of millions of dollars in long-distance fees that he claims they owe. ...more.

Ecuador Awards Mobile Number Portability Contract

Ecuador's telecoms regulator, Senatel has awarded a contract to manage mobile number portability between the country's three mobile network operators. ...more.

Mexico's America Movil Signs New Ecuador Concession

Mexico's America Movil, Latin America's largest mobile operator, said Tuesday that it has signed a new operating concession with the Ecuadorian government. ...more.

Mexican mobile phone operator America Movil plans to invest about $3 billion in Ecuador over the next 15 years under its new concession, a company official said Monday. ...more.

Airspan Wins WiMAX Contract in Ecuador

Ecuadorian state-owned carrier, Pacifictel has selected Airspan's WiMAX base stations and related CPEs (customer premise equipment), for a high-speed WiMAX network deployment. ...more.

Ecuador Clarifies How to Calculate Active Subscriber Base

Ecuador's telecoms regulator, Conatel has issued a directive to the local operators clarifying how they are to calculate which of its subscribers are classified as active. ...more.

Ecuador: Telephone Cos Should Invest $50Mln in Portability

Cellular telephone companies operating in Ecuador will likely need to invest $50 million over the next two years in order to implement telephone number portability, Jaime Guerrero, the head of the country's telephone regulatory agency, said Wednesday. ...more.

Ecuador will renew America Movil deal

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa agreed Monday to renew the operating concession for the local unit of mobile phone giant America Movil, ending months of stalled negotiations, a top telecommunications official said. ...more.

The head of Ecuador's National Council of Telecommunications, or Conatel, said Wednesday that the government has no plans to reconsider its decision to end negotiations with Porta Celular, a unit of America Movil. ...more.

Ecuador Rejects America Movil's 2nd Bid to Renew Concession

President Rafael Correa warned Saturday that Mexican telecommunications company America Movil must leave Ecuador unless it boosts an insufficient second bid to keep its mobile phone service contract in the country. ...more.

Telefonica Will Invest $400 Million in Ecuador -Chairman

Spain's Telefonica plans to invest $400 million in Ecuador in the next years, the company's chairman, Cesar Alierta, said late Thursday after he met with President Rafael Correa in Quito. ...more.

The National Council of Telecommunications, or Conatel, told Porta Celular, a unit of America Movil, that it has ten days to submit an acceptable economic plan, or face the loss of its concession to operate in Ecuador. ...more.

Ecuador Agency: Telefonica Tries to Obstruct Tax Payment

The director of Ecuador's Internal Revenue Service, or SRI, said Tuesday that Movistar, a unit of Telefonica de Espana has tried to avoid a tax payment of some $4 million. ...more.