Spain’s Telefonica says it is looking to switch-off its CDMA networks in favour of GSM across its Latin American subsidiaries over the next five years. “Probably by year 2010, if things keep going in the same direction in terms of commercial activity in GSM, we’ll be starting thinking of switching off the CDMA network,” Telefonica’s general manager for Latin America, Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, said during a conference call, reports Cellular News. He added that the group plans to invest between US$17 billion and US$20 billion in its Latin American networks over the next five years.

Alvarez-Pallete said that the majority of the group’s new subscriber additions in the region were based on GSM, most notably in Brazil, where GSM accounted for over 90 percent. “The level of subsidies in terms of CDMA handsets has been significantly reduced, so the impact on the margin is already there,” he said. Telefonica is one of the largest mobile players in the region with operations in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Venezuela and Peru among others. According to Wireless Intelligence data, the total number of CDMA connections in the Americas region has dropped from around 67 million in Q3, 2006 to 45 million by Q3, 2008.