Whilst Latin America's telecoms industry suffered from the economic breakdown of last year, the industry's move into the IT space was a trend that solidified in many of the region's most important markets, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan.

The region's pay-TV market is described as still holding promise, and whilst IPTV did not become a reality due to regulatory restrictions, video-on-demand services made "great advances", according to the report, which adds that 2010 brings both hope and anxiety for the sector.  3G networks were deployed in the region, commercially operating in 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the arrival of the iPhone in regional markets triggered Internet usage and other services, such as application stores.

Frost & Sullivan goes on to predict that ultra-fast broadband services will gain traction in the region, and that competition and the scale of clients will erode prices, which are expected to decline slowly in 2010 for connections above 20 Mbps, further helping the traction of these services.  Bundling ultra-fast broadband with other services such as IPTV is expected to help increase the benefit perception of shifting bandwidths to the next level.

Other predictions contained within the report include the belief that WiMAX is not dead in the region: "As many comments about the commercial failure of WiMAX as a broadband technology arise, I prefer to see it as a complementary technology for ADSL, cable modem and 3G in Latin America, mostly for areas without coverage of these traditional services, such as rural, low competition, or low income areas," said Jose Roberto Mavignier, industry manager at Frost & Sullivan.

In addition, mobile marketing is also expected to take off in the region, thanks to the sale of a large volume of iPhones and other smartphones, along with the extensive rollout of 3G networks, creating the foundation to leverage mobile marketing initiatives.  There are also expected to be an increased number of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) emerging in the region in 2010.