Friday, January 8, 2010

Argentina and Latin America - Interview with Diego Martinez

Last month, Diego Martinez did an interview with BNAmericas.

http://www.bnamericas.com/news/telecommunications/UTStarcom_eyes_IPTV_opportunities_in_2010

"IP networking solutions provider UTStarcom is expecting to see a boom in IPTV deployments in 2010, Diego Martinez, Americas VP and general manager for UTStarcom, told BNamericas."

Argentina - "Argentina has finally approved a law that allows the cooperatives to apply for a broadcast license. The bigger incumbents can't deliver those services, but we believe they want to participate in the value chain considering the restrictions they may have," Martinez said.

Brazil - "With respect to Brazil, we do expect the PL29 [bill to allow telcos to offer the full range of channels rather than only video on demand (VOD)] to move and to be approved by the beginning of 2010. That will open a whole set of opportunities in the country, and we believe we're well positioned as a recognized brand in IPTV," the executive added.

Here is another article on their trial in Argentina (a month earlier).

http://www.nextvlatam.com/nota.aspx?idcontenido=1135&ididioma=2

Dario Oliver, Manager of Telpin, told NexTV Latam that IPTV trials were being carried out with an UTStarcom platform, but the purchase decision had not been taken yet. Regarding the platform's functioning, the executive assured that tests were being carried out without inconveniencies and that the last mile might take place with WiFi or PLC. "We are evaluating the network scope taking into account the need to reach homes with 12 Mbps. We have not decided how the installation in the client's house will be carried out. PLC and WiFi are the two alternatives we are analyzing since UTP wiring would be too expensive and slow", he considered.

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UT continues to stick with the playbook of broadband/ngn and then iptv. While most of the business is in China, India, and Japan, UT continues to put their stakes in other parts of the world (despite the restructuring). That strategy was appealing to investors for the last few years but the opex was just too high to wait for revenues to ramp (while seeing the PAS declines). The lowered expense base make these new developments much more interesting as the seeds start to bloom.