Juan Carlos Perez

Four major IT vendors are co-developing a suite of products to automate and improve the screening of passengers and employees at U.S. airports, with the aim of making the process faster and more secure.

The number of subscribers to mobile telephony services exceeded the number of telephone fixed lines in Latin America in 2001 by a small margin that is expected to widen in coming years, according to a study released last week.

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A pair of security holes in Microsoft

Latin American consumers and businesses will continue to increase their use of the Internet, data transmission services and mobile communication in the coming years, which will help push telecommunication services revenue in the region from US$64 billion in 2000 to $85 billion in 2005, according to a study released Wednesday by International Data Corp. (IDC).

Latin America's first 3G (third generation) networks will be deployed in late 2003 in the most advanced markets while smaller markets may have to wait until 2005, according to a Yankee Group Inc. analyst.

Managers must be prepared to see half of all the well-known IT vendors doing business today disappear in the next three years, either through mergers or bankruptcy, according to Stamford, Conn.-based market research firm Gartner Inc.

Palm Inc. handheld devices have been the overwhelming choice of Latin American users so far, but competition is likely to heat up.