Editorial - Published - February 6, 2026 - Mobile Time - Translated from Spanish
Latin American Telcos are betting on 5G, RCS, satellites and AI by 2026
The Latin American telecommunications sector experienced a year of caution rather than major investment in 2025. According to Julián Rodríguez, Sales Director for Latin America at Motive—a company that enables telecommunications operators to offer digital services—operators prioritized stabilizing their operations, improving efficiency, and integrating assets after several years of significant capital outlays and accelerated transformation processes.
“It was a year of getting our house in order,” Rodríguez summarizes in an interview with Mobile Time Latin America. He asserts that “ there were no significant greenfield investments or disruptive network upgrades. Instead, the focus was on consolidating existing capabilities, reviewing strategies, and preparing the ground for the next technological cycle.”
Therefore, in 2026 the outlook will be different: a year of consolidating new technologies such as AI or promoting others such as RCS, satellite internet and 5G.
One of the most visible developments of last year was the intensification of mergers and acquisitions. Telefónica continued its divestment process in the region, transferring assets to groups such as Millicom and other regional operators.
"While these operations did not immediately translate into large investments, they did require significant efforts in internal alignment, operational integration, and strategic adjustment," he notes.
Another of the most disruptive developments of 2025 occurred in Mexico, with the entry of traditional cable operators into the mobile business. Companies like Megacable, izzi, and Totalplay launched mobile services, breaking a relatively stable coexistence model between fixed and mobile operators that had prevailed for years.
"This shift introduced new competitive dynamics into a historically predictable market and was accompanied by rumors about possible sales of mobile operations, reinforcing the regional trend towards consolidation," he notes.
Brazil, for its part, showed a particular behavior, with specific investments aimed at supporting the launch of new services —such as Apple's RCS support— rather than deep infrastructure transformations.
Regarding artificial intelligence, although it has become a cross-cutting theme throughout the industry, its deployment is not yet massive nor does it function as a clear competitive differentiator, so it has taken a central place in the strategic conversations of operators for 2026.
“While telecommunications remains a traditional industry, where large investments tend to progress more slowly than in other sectors, AI is already perceived as a true game-changer, especially in the area of customer service,” he notes.
For companies like Motive, AI has become an absolute priority. The most concrete use cases today focus on process automation, incident resolution, customer behavior analysis, and optimizing the user experience, especially across customer service channels.
Beyond data analysis, artificial intelligence is emerging as a key tool for improving operational efficiency , reducing friction, and scaling interactions more intelligently.
User experience is also gaining prominence with the evolution of RCS (Rich Communication Services). The agreement between Apple and Google to enable interoperable RCS, announced in 2025, marks a turning point after years of fragmentation between iOS and Android.
According to Rodríguez, this scenario favored the dominance of OTT applications like WhatsApp, especially in Latin America. “ This was particularly relevant in Latin America, one of the regions with the highest WhatsApp adoption rates globally,” he points out.
Operators in the region are expected to gradually adopt this technology and develop new services on top of it. “ This advancement reinforces the transition to more automated, interoperable, and user-centric networks , an area in which Motive continues to actively invest,” the company states.
Another major technological priority for operators in 2026 is direct-to-cell (D2C) satellite connectivity.
In 2025, an initial launch was led by Entel, which became the first operator in Latin America to offer this type of service. “ Motive supported this launch by contributing its entitlements platform to enable D2C activation on mobile devices,” explains Rodríguez.
Thanks to agreements with Starlink, users can connect directly to low-Earth orbit satellites when they are outside of terrestrial coverage. According to the spokesperson, so far the only alliances of this type in the region have been with Entel Chile and Entel Peru, but it is expected that in 2026 more operators—including in Brazil—will move in this direction.
“Starlink appears to be adopting a very selective strategy, generally choosing only one operator per market, which will likely push other operators to seek alternative satellite providers to compete,” he adds.
Another priority will be the effective monetization of 5G networks. For Motive, technologies such as network slicing and on-demand 5G services appear as concrete ways to capture value.
“Cases such as major sporting events, where congestion affects the user experience, allow for the creation of dedicated segments for critical services, media, or corporate clients, guaranteeing quality of service and enabling specific billing models,” he concludes.