Mexico’s senate is scheduled to hold a special session to debate additional laws to the country’s new telecommunications regulations designed to curb the market dominance of companies owned by billionaire Carlos Slim. The session is set to begin July 4.
In a related move, the country’s telecom regulator, the Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, has found that Slim’s fixed-line phone company Telmex and pay-television provider Dish Mexico have undisclosed economic links that may breach anti-trust rules. As reported by El Financiero, Dish issued a statement denying it had such links with Telmex. However, the IFT said there is evidence of ties between the two companies that goes beyond a deal for converged billing.
TIM’s future uncertain: There were more rumors about the potential sale of Telecom Italia’s Brazilian unit, TIM, this week, and again the Italian telco said it considers TIM to be a strategic asset, although it has not ruled out a sale. Chairman Giuseppe Recchi told Il Sole 24 Ore that TIM Brasil is the source of one-third of the company’s revenues. TIM is the No. 2 mobile operator in Brazil in terms of market share and serves 70 million customers.
The rumors follow the dissolution of Telco, the Telecom Italia investment group led by Telefónica. Other major investors, Mediobanca SpA, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Assicurazioni Generali SpA are also exiting Telco, leaving Spain’s Telefónica with a direct 15% holding in Milan-based Telecom Italia. Telco is expected to be formally dissolved as soon as regulators sign off on the plan.
América Móvil/AT&T partnership ends: After more than 20 years, AT&T will no longer be an América Móvil shareholder. América Móvil shareholders will acquire international series “AA” shares from AT&T, representing 23.81% of América Móvil’s voting stock, for a total price of about $5.6 billion. These shares represent 8.27% of América Móvil’s capital stock. Macquarie Capital analyst Kevin Smithen noted that while the purchase of AT&T’s stake was a surprise move, it was a positive transaction for América Móvil.
More news from Latin American region:
- Mobile operators in Ecuador have new rules to follow related to customer service quality assurance. The new standards, which were set back in January, went into effect on July 1. According to the government, the rules protect customer rights by limiting customers’ wait time to have problems solved, and setting standards for call and signal quality, among other issues.
- Also in Ecuador, the national regulator Conatel has moved forward with a bill focused on boosting growth of mobile network virtual operators.
- Telefónica Peru expects to invest $1.8 billion in infrastructure between 2014 and 2016.
- Cable & Wireless Communications re-branded its Panama pay-TV business as “+TV Digital.” The re-branding is part of Project Marlin, a dedicated investment program aiming to increase CWC’s total investment in Panama and the Caribbean to more than $1 billion over the next three years.
- Colombian state multi-utility Emcali is seeking a strategic partner to boost its telecommunications business.
- TIM has completed the internalization process of its network operation center. The company will no longer work with external suppliers for activities to monitor and manage its network. The goal is to have direct control over processes and teams to further improve service quality indicators. TIM has invested about $3.5 million in training and infrastructure. Currently, the NOC has 400 employees who monitor and manage 12,500 sites, 70,000 kilometers of optical fiber, 900 IP core network elements, 6,700 pieces of transmission equipment and 1,300 multi-service access nodes.
- Colombia’s National Television Authority has approved a merger between Colombian mobile operator Tigo and UNE-EPM Telecomunicaciones.
- Colombia’s Avantel is expected to start offering LTE services in September.
Wondering what’s going on in Latin America? Why don’t you follow me on Twitter? Also check out all of RCR Wireless News’ Latin American content.
