In a new twist to the changing Mexican telecom market, Telefónica is reportedly in talks to acquire Grupo Iusacell, a deal that could be worth up to $4 billion, according to local newspaper El Confidencial. Rumors have been circulating since early June that the two were considering a merger. In a regulatory filing, Telefónica said negotiations are open, although no agreement has been reached.
Telefónica is the No. 2 telecom company in Mexico followed by Iusacell at No. 3. Both trail América Móvil, which has about 70% of the market share. However, América Móvil is expected to be reducing its share in the future following the implementation of a new Mexican telecom reform law that forbids telecom companies from controlling more than half of the market.
Telecom Italia’s investment in TIM: The president of Telecom Italia, Marco Patuano, visited Brazil last week to meet the country’s president, Dilma Rousseff. In addition to denying any plans to sell TIM, the CEO unveiled a $1.8 billion investment plan to improve the quality of TIM’s mobile service. The amount should be used this year and does not include funds set aside for acquiring a new license on the 700 MHz frequency band to offer expanded LTE service.
Oi/PT merger: Portugal Telecom and the Brazilian operator Oi have released additional information regarding new agreements for their planned merger, which is still subject to approval by both companies’ shareholders. The agreement reduces PT’s stake in the merged company to 25.6%. It was revised earlier in July following PT’s revelation that it had invested in the short-term debt of a subsidiary of the Espirito Group, a shareholder in the operator. The subsidiary later defaulted on the debt.
Bolivia’s new 4G service: Tigo has launched a 4G high-speed Internet service offering users up to 100 megabits per second speeds in Bolivia. The country has more than three million Internet users with 95% using a mobile connection to access the Internet. According to Millicom, which owns Tigo, more than 50% of the country’s population of 10.5 million will be able to access the 4G service at the time of the launch, increasing to 70% of the population in 170 municipalities by 2018. In a statement, Millicom’s CEO and president, Hans-Holger Albrecht, said that the high-speed Internet service is the company’s latest innovation in Bolivia following the launch of satellite TV service there in April. Tigo’s competitor, Entel also provides 4G services in Bolivia.
More news from the Latin American region:
- Brazil ended June with 275.71 million mobile users, of which about 3.2 million were using LTE services. Half the lines are GSM (50.09%), and Vivo still leads with a 28.78% market share, followed by TIM with 26.91%.
- Uruguay’s public telco Antel will offer Netflix to its fiber-to-the-home and 4G clients through a distribution agreement signed with the over-the-top operator.
- Costa Rica operator ICE is said to be interested in investing in the Honduran telecommunications company Hondutel.
- Equinix has closed a definitive agreement to complete the 100% acquisition of Brazilian Alog Data Centers in an all cash transaction valued at $225 million. In April 2011, Equinix, together with Riverwood Capital, acquired a majority stake of Alog.
- Paraguayan telecom regulator Conatel expects to hold a public hearing in September to discuss a draft bill to reform the country’s telecom law.
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