Without saying anything in public, Telecom Americas is consulting manufacturers of GSM handsets and infrastructure as part of a plan to migrate from TDMA to the European standard. Well-informed sources say the consortium will soon begin requesting proposals for overbuilding a GSM layer on its existing network and has received suggestions from at least three equipment vendors: Nokia, Ericsson, and Nortel. They have not only demonstrated their solutions but visited cellsites owned by ATL, Tess, Telet and Americel, all of which are part of Telecom Americas. América Móvil, the Mexican-owned group that holds a controlling share in the consortium is expected to take the decision to migrate. This will require a PCS license, under which Anatel allows additional frequencies in the 1800 MHz band to be acquired for GSM operations. Telecom Americas hasn?t decided whether to bid for PCS leftovers in the D and E bands.
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