Virgin Mobile Latin America Inc. (VMLA) closed a second debt funding agreement with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, to fund its operations in Colombia. The debt facility is up to U.S.$14 million. VMLA was expected to launch a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in Colombia during the last quarter of this year; however, the company told RCR Wireless News that they now “expect the launch in Colombia to be during the first quarter of 2013.”
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Commenting on the funding, Peter Macnee, VMLA president and CEO, said that the company looks forward to “replicating the tremendous success we have enjoyed with Virgin Mobile in Chile when we enter the Colombian market next year.” Virgin Mobile has already established its management team and headquarters in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital.
Macnee also said that the support of the IFC has been central to the strong start in Chile and the Colombian mobile market provides an even greater opportunity for success.
The Colombian funding raises IFC’s support for Virgin Mobile in the Latin American region to a total of U.S.$25 million, including the U.S.$11 million it loaned VMLA in August for its Chilean operations. The new funding will strengthen Virgin Mobile’s aggressive entry into the Colombian market with the same energy achieved earlier this year in Chile.
In Chile, Virgin Mobile has attracted nearly 200,000 customers. According to the company, it is on course to break even during 2013. “Virgin Mobile Chile has enjoyed great success by introducing simplified, flat rate voice and affordable data services to non-contract consumers for the first time in the market,” the company noted in a statement.
VLMA and IFC have already initiated discussions concerning Virgin Mobile’s entrance into Brazil and its further expansion across Latin America. Speaking at the Colombian ICT event Andicom in September, Jeffery Buckwalter, VMLA’s senior vice president for business development, said the Brazil launch would occur during the second half of 2013.
