Mobile network operators are struggling to increase network coverage in major Latin American markets because permits to build new cell sites are difficult to obtain, but there are signs that the situation could improve, executives from 4G Americas suggested on Wednesday.
Quality of service issues and delayed network rollout "continue to be an issue in the region," Chris Pearson, president of 4G Americas, told Total Telecom at Mobile Wo rld Congress.
Operators in markets like Brazil are frequently fined by the state as a result of complaints about their network quality, but in many cases they are prevented from investing in their networks due to regulatory red tape.
"They can be waiting for permits for a while," Pearson said.
"[There are] more fair regulatory ways to allow the marketplace to determine quality of service," than imposing fines on network operators, he said. "The marketplace should determine whether customers are happy or not."
Even when telcos try to plan ahead, planning permission applications often become mired in bureaucracy.
An operator could look two years ahead and decide to build a new cell site to avoid network congestion, explained Jose Otero, director of Latin America and the Caribbean at 4G Americas.
"Five years pass and they still don’t get the authorisation, but they do get fined for bad service," he said.
The region is particularly challenging because of the need to obtain permissions at a local level.
The rules change from municipality to municipality, and there are around 5,200 municipalities in Brazil alone and 1,100 in Colombia, Otero said. Meanwhile, there have been problems in Argentina, where homeowners have demanded monthly payments from operators in return for allowing them to install an antenna on the roof of their building.
However, some markets in the region have taken steps to mitigate these issues, which could be a sign of things to come.
In the past couple of years Peru and Chile have passed new regulations "to guarantee that the operators can actually deploy their networks," Otero said.
In Peru operators no longer need to deal with all the municipalities individually and it is also more difficult for permissions to install equipment to be refused, he said. "That’s a good development," and other markets are looking at it.
