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Wireless Federation » archive for 'América Móvil'

America Movil to invest $3 billion in Ecuador (Mexico, Ecuador)

  • August 26th, 2008
  • 8:35 am

America Movil, Mexico, has planned to invest $3 billion in Ecuador for next fifteen years.
“The new contract is good for both sides: the government and the company,” says Daniel Bernal, legal counsel for America Movil’s local unit Porta Celular.
He also added that the firm has a long term commitment with Ecuador and is planning to invest nearly $200 million every year. The investment will help increase the coverage, especially in rural areas. Porta Celular will pay $480 million for the concession, with an initial payment of $289 millionand payments of 3.93% of its yearly revenue over the 15-year period. Of the 3.93%, 1% will go to the country’’s telecommunications fund, or Fodetel.
In case of contract violation, fines of up to $2 million are established. It sets the maximum charge for a minute of air time at $0.22, down from the current charge of $0.50 a minute.
“The contract is a landmark in Ecuador because it benefits everyone. The company could improve technology. The proceeds from the concession will go to the general budget, which will give priority to the National Connectivity Plan,” Jaime Guerrero, the nation’s telecommunications regulator said.
The plan offers to increase penetration and data transmission services in Ecuador.

   

Latin America mobile subscribers reaches the mark of 400 mln

  • August 14th, 2008
  • 8:11 am

According to new figures from the industry analyst, the number of mobile connections in Latin America exceeded 400 million in the first half of this year. Mobile penetration rate is 72%. Also operators  are now turning to data services boost revenues. It is also forecasted that mobile connections in the Americas will reach 550 million by 2010, while penetration at the same date will stand at 93%. Top five penetration markets, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela have 76% of the region’s mobile subscribers, or 312 million connections.

Analyst also made reference to Spain’s Telefonica, the second-largest telecoms group in Latin America after America Movil, which in June announced plans to create a mobile advertising alliance across its operations in Europe and Latin America. Statistics reveals that Telefonica had just under 104.5 million mobile customers in Latin America at the end of the first quarter, or 70 million excluding Vivo, in which it holds a 50% stake only. The Spanish telco is still dwarfed by Carlos Slim’s America Movil, which claimed 146.3 million at the same date. Telecom Italia comes in a distant third with 48.4 million, followed by Millicom International Group with 16.2 million and Telecom Argentina with 12.6 million.

Mexico’s Mobile Market Profile

  • August 12th, 2008
  • 5:52 am

Mexico’s mobile industry is growing at a yearly rate of around 22%, reaching an estimated 60% penetration by September 2007. Mexico market is driven by a booming GSM market. Three major mobile operators: América Móvil’s Telcel and Telefónica’s Movistar offer GSM services, while Grupo Iusacell (recently merged with Unefón) uses CDMA technology. A fourth operator, Nextel de México, operates a mobile trunking system using the iDEN mobile communications standard. Despite increased competition since 2000, Telcel still dominates market share. Between 2003 and 2007, Mexican mobile operators have been upgrading their networks to offer high-capacity and high-speed data services, such as EDGE, 1xRTT and 1x EV-DO.

Highlights of 2Q ‘08 Mexico Mobile Forecast include:

*  Total subscribers in Mexico will increase from our projected 79.2 million in 2008 to a forecasted 98.5 million in 2010. The wireless penetration level of the country will continue rising and we expect it to reach 91.5% in 2010.

* Telcel will continue to be the largest operator in the country. We expect it to serve 66.6 million out of 98.5 million subscribers in Mexico in 2010. We are also forecasting that Telcel will enjoy the highest EBITDA margin of 55.0% in 2010.

* However, Telcel’s market share (by subscribers) is expected to decline from 70.3% in 2008 to 67.6% in 2010 as its competitors - Movistar Mexico and Nextel - continue gaining market shares.

* In 2010, the average ARPU in Mexico will be US$ 17.96 per month, or the highest ARPU in our seven-country Latin America coverage list. While the largest operator, Telcel, will register an ARPU level of US$ 16.71, we are forecasting that Nextel will receive a much higher ARPU of $65.38 per month in 2010.

Statistics as follows:

Operators           Subscribers                  Ownership

  • Telcel           52.852 (June 2008)         América Móvil (100%)
  • Movistar        3.306 (March 2008)        Telefónica
  • Iusacell           3.97 (March 2008)         Grupo Salinas (76%), Publicly Traded (23%)
  • NEXTEL           2.2697 (March 2008)       NIL Holdings

Source: Wikipedia.org

America Movil acquires Nicaraguan telecommunications (Mexico)

  • August 8th, 2008
  • 6:17 am

America Movil, Latin America’s largest mobile phone operator has announced that it bought Nicaraguan telecommunications firm Estesa Holding Corp.

America Movil, Mexico, has acquired 100% of the company.

   

iPhone 3G launches in 20 countries on August 22

  • August 7th, 2008
  • 12:18 pm

The iPhone 3G will be launched in twenty more countries on August 22. All the operators concerned have made their formal announcements. 10 countries are Latin American.It is predicted that SingTel will also join the mix, but the reports are yet to be confirmed.

August 22 releases

    * Argentina - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Chile - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Colombia - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Czech Republic - O2
    * Ecuador - Telefonica and America Movil
    * El Salvador - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Estonia - Eesti Mobii Telefon
    * Guatemala - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Honduras - America Movil
    * Hungary - T-Mobile
    * India - Bharti Airtel and Vodafone
    * Paraguay - America Movil
    * Philippines - GlobeTelecom
    * Peru - Telefonica and America Movil
    * Poland - Orange and Era
    * Romania - Orange
    * Uruguay - Telefonica and America Movil

   

America Movil’s 2Q net profit mounts 25% (Mexico)

  • July 22nd, 2008
  • 11:47 am

America Movil a Mexican wireless carrier said that its second-quarter net profit rose 25% to $1.75 billion on the year amid continued robust subscriber growth. America Movil’s total sales increased 14% from the second quarter of 2007 to $8.34 billion.

$1.56 billion is the expected net profit by the market, on revenue of $8.53billion,  according to the median forecast of nine analysts. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, a measure of cash flow, increased 14% to$3.45 billion, while the company’s Ebitda margin was 41%.

The company added 6.1 million mobile clients in the quarter, bringing its total wireless subscriber base to 165.3 million at the end of June.

Of the net additions, 1.3 million were in Mexico, where the company’s Telcel unit finished the quarter with 52.9 million subscribers. In Brazil, America Movil added 1.9 million subscribers to finish the quarter with 33.1 million.

FWA concession won by America Movil (Peru)

  • July 21st, 2008
  • 2:30 pm

A 20-year concession contract has been signed by the Peruvian arm of Mexican mobile giant America Movil, Claro Peru, with the transport and communications ministry (MTC) to offer fixed wireless services. According to the terms of the licence, Claro is expected to deploy 100,000 fixed wireless lines in the provinces of Lima and Callao using the 850MHz and 1900MHz bands. Total investment for the project is expected to reach USD2.5 million within the next five years and USD1.3 million in the first year.

   

Digicel and America Movil bag PCS licences

  • May 8th, 2008
  • 2:12 pm

Irish-owned wireless group Digicel and America Movil (Claro) have won 20 year concessions to offer wireless services using 30MHz in the 1900MHz frequency band. Digicel bid USD86 million for the licence, beating the USD73 million offered by Claro Panama. A third firm, Millicom International Cellular, dropped out of the running at the last minute, and as a result the Panamanian government asked Claro to match Digicel’s offer. The two firms will compete with Cable & Wireless Panama and Movistar.

The licence is Digicel’s fourth in Central America, where the company has operations in El Salvador, is planning a launch in Honduras this year and holds spectrum to eventually launch in Guatemala. ‘Panama is a very exciting win for us and solidifies our presence in the region. Just as in Honduras and El Salvador, there is huge potential for growth in this mobile market and Digicel looks forward to becoming a strong competitor,’ Digicel Group’s CEO Colm Delves said.

   
 

Claro to spend USD1.2bn in 3G expansion (Brazil)

  • April 25th, 2008
  • 2:02 pm

Telecom Americas (Claro), the Brazilian mobile operating unit of Mexico’s America Movil, says it plans to invest BRL2 billion (USD1.2 billion) on expanding its 3G network coverage in 2008. It is understood the investment does not include the BRL1.43 billion that Claro owes to the regulator Anatel for the UMTS licences it purchased last December. Claro’s 3G services are currently available in 40 Brazilian municipalities.

   

 

Ecuador rejects latest America Movil bid

  • April 21st, 2008
  • 2:21 pm

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa warned Mexican telecoms company America Movil that it must improve its second bid to hold onto a mobile operating contract or leave the country.

An Associated Press report quoted Correa in his weekly radio address saying that, “The first offer they presented us was a real insult to our intelligence. The second isn’t as bad, but it’s still far from what the concession is really worth.”

America Movil, Latin America’s largest mobile phone service provider, is owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. It has operated in Ecuador since 1993. Its concession expires in August, but two previous, undisclosed offers to renew the contract were rejected by Ecuador’s government. America Movil has made no comment on the situation.

In February President Correa announced that local units of America Movil and Spain’s Telefonica, which also runs mobile services in Latin America, must pay a combined total of €442 million (US$700 million) to renew operating contracts – 12 times the €36.6 million (US$58 million) they paid for their concessions in the 1990’s.

Telefonica agreed to pay €140 million (US$220 million) to extend its contract through to 2023, Correa said before threatening to hold an international auction for America Movil’s concession. He added that Slim’s company would not be allowed to bid unless it reaches an agreement within the next few weeks.

America Movil’s subsidiary, Porta, controls 68.8% of Ecuador’s mobile phone market, while Telefonica’s Movistar controls 26.8% and state-run Alegro PCS controls 4.4%, the report said.