BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Nuevatel is planning to invest US$12.5 million this year in Bolivia to launch its long-distance service in July and expand its cellular network. The objective of both initiatives is to generate a synergy between the fixed-line network owned by Cochabamba Cooperative (Comteco) and Nuevatel’s cellular users.
Nuevatel is owned 70 percent by Western Wireless and 30 percent by Comteco and operates under the brand name Viva GSM. It offers cellular telephony in the cities of Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Santa Cruz, Sucre and Tarija. The company will expand its network in those cities and launch its long-distance service next month to offer the same services as its competitors Entel and Telecel.
Nuevatel has 86,000 cellular clients, and with these investments it plans to reach 130,000 clients toward the end of the year. According to the Telecommunications Superintendence, there are 800,000 cellular users (almost a 10-percent penetration) and 523,000 fixed telephony users in Bolivia.
