GSA-Region_Spotlight_Latin_America_April_2024

April 2024
Region Spotlight
Latin America
Introduction
In recent years, Latin America has witnessed significant advancements in telecommunications technology,
particularly in the realm of mobile networks. The proliferation of 4G LTE networks has transformed the
digital landscape, enabling faster data speeds, enhanced connectivity and the widespread adoption of
mobile broadband services across the region. Moreover, the advent of 5G technology promises to usher
in a new era of connectivity for the region, characterized by ultrafast speeds, low latency and greater
security.
This report provides a comprehensive overview of the status of 4G and 5G deployment in Latin America,
using the latest GSA data. It delves into various aspects of mobile network evolution including the status
of LTE, the roll-out of 5G networks, advancements in LTE-Advanced, the emergence of 5G standalone
infrastructure, the development of private networks and the upcoming switch-off of 2G and 3G
technologies.
LTE
LTE has a long history in Latin America were investing in LTE mobile or fixed The picture for LTE looks set to be much
and its impact is noticeable: consumers wireless access networks. Of these, 101 weaker in the coming years and months.
throughout the region have gained access operators in 30 countries have launched GSA has identified just 15 operators
to increased connectivity, which has LTE technologies covering the entire region, currently deploying the technology in nine
facilitated better communication, improved highlighting the strong adoption of LTE countries, and only five operators in five
access to various types of online service, technology and its impact on the region. countries planning deployments.
such as new digital platforms, educational
resources and entertainment. Figure 1. Number of operators launching LTE services per year and cumulative
This has had a major impact on the

140 900
socio-economic development of the Latin
American region over the past 10 to 15 800
120
years.
700
As of the end of February 2024, GSA had 100

600
identified 824 operators globally that have
80 500
launched LTE for mobile or fixed wireless
access services, a net rise of only seven new 400
60
launches since the end of 2022. Globally
300
since 2015, when LTE launches peaked, 40
the number of net launches per year has 200
dropped drastically from 122 to just seven 20

100
over the course of five years (see Figure 1).
0 0
Looking specifically at Latin America, 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
by the end of February 2024, GSA had Net launched per year Cumulative
identified 121 operators in 30 countries
© Copyright 2024 Global mobile Suppliers Association Region Spotlight: Latin America | April 2024 | 2
LTE-Advanced Figure 2. LTE-Advanced networks launched in Latin America
LTE-Advanced offers significantly higher

data rates, increased capacity and lower
latency than its predecessor, alongside
compatibility with LTE itself. Globally,
GSA has tracked 399 operators in 166
countries investing in LTE-Advanced or LTE-
Advanced Pro; of these, 358 operators in
157 countries have launched LTE-Advanced
technology, giving a clear indication that its
enhanced capabilities encouraged strong
investment and prompted launches prior to
the release of 5G.
For Latin America, as of the end of February

2024, GSA has recorded 53 operators in 25
countries investing in LTE-Advanced across Powered by Bing
© Australian Bureau of Statistics, GeoNames, Microsoft, Navinfo, Open Places, OpenStreetMap, TomTom, Zenrin
the region, or just over 13% of the total
global number. The number of launched
networks in Latin America stands at 46 Figure 3. Number of operators investing in and with launched 5G networks globally
operators in 24 countries or just under
Investing Launched
13% of the global launched LTE-Advanced
networks (see Figure 2). Overall, Latin 700
America has performed rather strongly for Latin America:

600 10% of global total
LTE-Advanced penetration and uptake.
Much the same as LTE, and as the market 500
continues its shift to 5G and its even greater

400
capabilities than LTE-Advanced, the number
of operators planning launches of LTE- 300
Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro across Latin
America is particularly low, with only four 200
operators in as many countries planning

100
roll-outs.
0
5G
2Q18
3Q18
4Q18
1Q19
2Q19
3Q19
4Q19
1Q20
2Q20
3Q20
4Q20
1Q21
2Q21
3Q21
4Q21
1Q22
2Q22
3Q22
4Q22
1Q23
2Q23
3Q23
4Q23
As of the end of February 2024, GSA has

tracked 308 operators in 118 countries
that have launched or soft-launched 5G total, investing in 5G mobile or 5G fixed In the short and medium term, the
networks globally (see Figure 3). wireless access services in most of the outlook for 5G networks across Latin
countries in the region. The number of America looks promising considering the
For Latin America, the picture is generally
launched networks shows that 5G is still number of operators currently deploying
the same, with strong uptake across the
to achieve a strong foothold, as only 26 the technology: 11 operators across 10
region. According to the latest GSA data,
operators in 13 countries, or 8% of the countries, according to GSA data, pointing
Latin America has seen 64 operators in 22
global figure, have launched 5G networks by to an increasing rate of commercial 5G
countries, or just over 10% of the global
the end of February 2024. launches.
Alongside this, six operators in five countries are planning deployments, which in the longer term could result in the majority of Latin America
seeing commercialized 5G networks (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. Status of 5G networks across Latin America
Deployed in network, services launched Deploying Evaluating, testing or trialling Deployed in network, pre-commercial
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5G Standalone
5G standalone access is seen as the next step in 5G technology because it does not rely on a core network that is largely the same as during
the LTE era. It also carries several benefits such as improved reliability, lower latency, enhanced coverage, stronger indoor signals and more-
advanced security software. However, despite these greater capabilities, the technology has not been as comprehensive globally as non-
standalone networks. It should be noted that many non-standalone networks still offer higher upload and download speeds.
Globally since the end of 2022 to end of February 2024, the number of operators investing in 5G standalone access in the form of service
launches, testing, planning and deployments has seen a net rise of only 13, with 124 operators in 58 countries investing (see Figure 5).
Figure 5. Operators investing in 5G standalone access and in any 5G network
5G 5G standalone
Latin America:
4.8% of global total
578 582
524 535
505 515
491 496
108 111 112 115 115 121 121

102
1Q22 2Q22 3Q22 4Q22 1Q23 2Q23 3Q23 4Q23
Looking specifically at Latin America, Figure 6. Launched 5G standalone access networks across Latin America
the figures for 5G standalone access are
particularly low, with only six operators in
three countries investing, and of these, five
operators in three countries have launched
the technology (see Figure 6).
It looks as though little change will happen

for 5G standalone in Latin America, at least
in the short term, with only one operator
running a pilot, in Colombia.
Private Mobile Networks

As of GSA’s update on private mobile
networks in February 2024, the market
has continued to grow, including in Latin
America, and the rate of investment is now
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truly global (see Figure 7). © Microsoft, OpenStreetMap
Globally, GSA has identified more than 50

equipment providers involved in the supply Figure 7. Countries and territories with organisations investing in private mobile networks
of equipment for private mobile networks in the form of pilot projects, deployments and launches
based on LTE or 5G. We have also recorded
more than 66 different telecom network
operators that are also involved with private
mobile network projects.
As of February 2024, GSA has categorised

1,384 different customers deploying private
mobile networks. This figure is up from 1,279
in the previous update. Of these references,
438 are named; 946 are anonymised from
the data, meaning that 68% of references
Latin America:
cannot be found on the public domain.
87 references
6.2% of global total
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GSA has found that private networks are Figure 8. Global private mobile network deployments by region
deployed in 77 countries globally, including
much of North America, Europe and Asia,
and increasingly in Africa (see Figure 8).
Africa
In Latin America, GSA has counted 87 6%
Middle
unique customer references, making up East
8%
6.2% of the global total, mainly in Brazil,
Mexico, Peru but also in Chile, Argentina, Oceania
12%
Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras and
the Dominican Republic, albeit in much
Asia
smaller numbers. Latin America and 55%
the Caribbean
When it comes to deployment by sector, a 19%
slightly different picture to that of the rest
of the world emerges. Manufacturing is the
top industry worldwide for private network
deployments, followed by education and
mining.
In Latin America, manufacturing and

Figure 9. Deployments of private mobile networks in Latin America by industry
mining are two of the top three sectors,
but it is the latter that leads with 30 unique
customer references, which is in line with Mining 30
countries such as Brazil having very large Manufacturing (all) 19
mining industries. Mining is followed Seaports 8
by manufacturing with 19 references Oil and gas 8
and seaports and oil and gas with eight Power utilities 6
customer references each. Interestingly, Maritime 3
despite performing strongly globally, Defence and peacekeeping 3

Public venues and other neutral hosts 2
education only has one reference across
Agriculture 2
Latin America.
Smart cities 1
As shown in Figure 9, other industries Rail urban 1
have seen strong adoption, including Public protection and disaster relief 1
power utilities, maritime and defence and Other 1
peacekeeping. Education 1
Device testing and lab as a service 1
Spectrum Assignments
and Pricing
Argentina, French Guiana, Guatemala, Saint GHz, which received the highest price,
Since the beginning of 2022, Latin America
Barthelemy, Saint Martin and Uruguay. raising over $870 million.
has attracted a large amount of activity
in spectrum allocations and auctions. The prices achieved by regulators for these Moving into 2024, the GSA is tracking
Across the region at least six auctions have auctions have varied greatly. The 700 MHz and expecting many new and rearranged
concluded, according to the latest GSA auction in French Guiana raised just over auctions to conclude in several Latin
data. These auctions have ranged from $3.9 million, paling in comparison with American markets including El Salvador
700 MHz to 3.5 GHz in countries such as Argentina’s October 2024 auction of 3.5 and Brazil.
Switch-Off of 2G and 3G Networks
When they first were introduced to the market, 2G and 3G were highly significant innovations, but their importance has waned as greater
technological advances have emerged, and use of both technologies is now diminishing globally. As a result, many operators and governments
are determining that the older 2G and 3G technologies as well as the spectrum allocated to them should be switched off for the higher-
capacity, lower-latency and more-efficient 4G and 5G technologies. This transition is typically referred to as the 2G and 3G switch-off.
By the end of February 2024, GSA has tracked 119 operators across 58 countries globally that have either completed, are currently in progress
with or have planned 2G or 3G switch-offs.
For Latin America, this process is in the early stages, as illustrated in Figure 10. However, we are beginning to see increased momentum in the
switch-off and transition to newer LTE and 5G networks. As of the end of February 2024, four operators in three countries, namely Telecom
Argentina, Digicel in the Cayman Islands and Claro and Millicom in Colombia, have completed 2G or 3G switch-offs. Only one other country,
Chile, is planning closures, with operators Entel and Movistar moving to switch-off their 2G networks (see Figure 10).
Figure 10. Status of 2G and 3G network switch-off in Latin America
Completed Planned
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GSA Perspective
Latin America and numerous countries in the region have entered a period of transition. This transition is moving toward newer 5G networks,
but much more slowly than seen in North America, Western Europe and Asia–Pacific. This could be because of the huge number of consumers
across Latin America still using 2G and particularly 3G devices, meaning there is no immediate need for operators to switch-off their older
networks. However, we expect this to change in the medium- to long-term.
LTE is also clearly well established in Latin America and is now seeing a plateau in deployments, especially with only five operators planning
LTE deployments and six planning deployments of 5G. It may be the case that operators in this region will soon begin a large shift in focus to
developing 5G networks, especially as 5G consumer devices continue to increase.
From this, we expect to see many new spectrum auction and assignment announcements over the coming months and years across Latin
America as vital spectrum is designated for 5G use by governments and regulators.
ABOUT GSA
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ecosystem and has been representing
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of GSA activity and covers topics from
devices, chipsets and technology, to
networks, features and spectrum.
The GSA research team is constantly

following market dynamics and activity
to ensure the latest data is available to
GSA users via the GSA website.
Data is updated monthly and quarterly

and can be referenced by users who
register for free on the GSA website.
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contained in the GSA GAMBoD databases,
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© Global mobile Suppliers Association. 2024

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April 2024

This has had a major impact on the

As of the end of February 2024, GSA had 100

dropped drastically from 122 to just seven 20

LTE-Advanced offers significantly higher

For Latin America, as of the end of February

America has performed rather strongly for Latin America:

Much the same as LTE, and as the market 500

continues its shift to 5G and its even greater

operators in as many countries planning

As of the end of February 2024, GSA has

Figure 4. Status of 5G networks across Latin America

Figure 5. Operators investing in 5G standalone access and in any 5G network

108 111 112 115 115 121 121

1Q22 2Q22 3Q22 4Q22 1Q23 2Q23 3Q23 4Q23

It looks as though little change will happen

Private Mobile Networks

Globally, GSA has identified more than 50

As of February 2024, GSA has categorised

In Latin America, manufacturing and

countries such as Brazil having very large Manufacturing (all) 19

mining industries. Mining is followed Seaports 8

by manufacturing with 19 references Oil and gas 8

customer references each. Interestingly, Maritime 3

despite performing strongly globally, Defence and peacekeeping 3

Figure 10. Status of 2G and 3G network switch-off in Latin America

The GSA research team is constantly

Data is updated monthly and quarterly

GSA GAMBoD Database

Discounted annual subscription are

Please email info@gsacom.com for more

P.O. Box 6092

© Global mobile Suppliers Association. 2024

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