BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-BellSouth Latin America saw income of US$495 million in the third quarter of 2002, a decrease of 31 percent compared with the same period last year. “Revenues reflected the impacts of currency devaluations, principally in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as weak economic conditions in those countries,” indicated the company in a statement.
In Argentina, the peso has devalued 73 percent during the first three quarters of the year, while in Venezuela, the bolivar has devalued 49 percent during the same period. In the third quarter, the situation has provoked a net loss of 189,000 customers in these two countries.
The best results in the third quarter were those of the affiliates in Ecuador and Colombia, whose customer bases grew 72 percent and 23 percent respectively in relation to the same period the previous year. In the case of Ecuador, it is highly significant that during the last three months, 70,000 customers have been added to its subscriber base, a 17-percent increase.
On a global level, the Latin American partnership of BellSouth lost 152,000 customers during the third quarter, compared with a net reduction of 68,000 customers in the second quarter of 2002. Year-over-year, customers declined 179,000, or 2.2 percent, reaching 11.3 million cellular customers in 11 countries of Central and South America, including 225,000 fixed wireless customers.
