Brazil
Telemig Celular said it plans to invest R$200 million-R$220 million (US$118 million-US$130 million) during 1999 to expand its services in the state of Minas Gerais, according to the Jornal do Comercio. Telemig is owned by Telesystem International Wireless and local partners, the same group that controls Amazonia Celular in the rural Amazonia region. Amazonia Celular plans to invest R$120 million (US$71 million) in 1999, according to the report.
Telefonica announced it will spin off the wireless operations of Brazil telephone company Companhia Riograndense de Telecomunicacoes (CRT) into a separate company before year-end, but will maintain 85.1-percent control of the spun-off unit. Telefonica has to take such action because of Brazilian laws prohibiting any one group from controlling two fixed-line telephone companies, and Telefonica also owns through acquisition last year the Telesp wireless company in the state of Sao Paulo.
Dominican Republic
Tricom announced it expects its wireless local loop deployment, using CDMA equipment from Motorola, to be completed by July. Since the beginning of the year, Tricom has been testing pre-commercial lines in service around the country’s capital city of Santo Domingo.
Haiti
In March, Haitel began accepting applications from customers for its initial launch of PCS service. Haitel plans to offer more than 200,000 telephone lines at an initial installation rate of 10,000 lines per month, according to an article in Audience magazine.
Mexico
Press reports say Axtel, formerly named Telinor, plans to launch its fixed wireless telephone service in June in the city of Monterrey. Axtel is owned by Bell Canada International (27 percent) and U.S.-based WorldTel (22 percent). It is using equipment from Nortel Networks.
Peru
Telefonica del Peru has announced it expects to spin off its cellular unit, Telefonica Servicios Moviles.
