Wind Telecom to deploy WiMAX network
Telegeography writes…Dominican Republic broadband ISP Wind Telecom has announced plans to deploy a WiMAX network, using equipment provided by Canadian telecoms equipment supplier Nortel. Wind expects the network to be running commercially by September 2007 using the 2.5GHz frequency. The company plans to eventually offer data, voice and video in the cities of Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata and B¡varo. In addition to supplying the equipment, Nortel will also be responsible for the deployment, support and maintenance of the wireless network.
Mexican heavyweights give up on Venezuela
Telegeography writes…Am©rica M³vil (AM) and its sister company Tel©fonos de M©xico (Telmex) have agreed to scrap their joint plan to buy a USD677 million, 28.5% stake in Venezuelan fixed line operator CANTV from US-based Verizon Communications. The contract will be cancelled within days, AM’s CEO Daniel Hajj said yesterday. The Mexican company added in an e-mailed statement that Verizon had agreed to end the deal. The news leaves Verizon on its own to negotiate with Venezuela’s government over its assets after President Hugo Ch¡vez last month declared his intention to nationalise CANTV. Ch¡vez has implied that he will not pay market price for Verizon’s stake, and may deduct the value of pensions owed to former workers. In April 2006 AM agreed to buy Verizon’s telecoms interests in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico for a total of USD3.7 billion. It completed the acquisition of Verizon’s 100% stake in Verizon Dominicana for USD2.062 billion and is waiting for clearance from the US regulator the FCC to purchase a 52% interest in Telecomunicaciones de Puerto Rico (PRT) for USD939 million, expected by the end of March. AM has agreed with Verizon to extend an offer to all other PRT shareholders to purchase their shares at the same price per share paid to Verizon.
Telmex, America Movil call off Cantv buyout
Telecompaper writes…Mexico-based telecoms operator Telmex and America Movil have announced they are calling off plans to buy a stake in Cantv. The pair had agreed in April 2006 to buy the shares owned by Verizon and the deal’s expiry date was postponed three times. In a statement, Telmex said the firm and America Movil had decided along with Verizon to abandon the purchase because it was unlikely government backing would be received. Although Telmex has said the Puerto Rican and Dominican Republican governments have approved the purchase of local affiliates from Verizon, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said he will re-nationalise Cantv.
America Movil gains 10.8 million subscribers in Q4
Telecompaper writes…Latin American operator America Movil added a net 10.8 million new mobile subscribers in the fourth quarter, including some 2.1 million from its takeover of Verizon’s activities in the Dominican Republic. The group finished the year with 124.8 million mobile customers, plus another 2.9 million fixed-line users. Subscriber growth was the strongest in its home market of Mexico, followed by Brazil and Argentina. Revenues for the quarter rose 19.2 percent from a year earlier to MXP 65.36 billion, and EBITDA improved 65 percent to MXP 24.41 billion. Net profit was down 27.6 percent to MXP 10.89 billion due to foreign exchange losses and financing costs. Net debt was at MXP 67.6 billion at year end, or 1.2 times annual EBITDA.
Cingular Wireless sues telemarketers for calls to customers
Cingular Wireless has filed three lawsuits to stop telemarketers from making unsolicited and illegal calls to Cingular customers.
The lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta. Cingular, one of the leading wireless operators nationwide, seeks injunctions and damages in all three lawsuits.
Cingular is the largest wireless company in the United States, with more than 54 million subscribers who use the nation’s largest digital voice and data network. It is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp. and at&t Inc., whose merger was recently approved.
In one lawsuit, Cingular alleges that Sebell Telecommunications LLC of Miami made unsolicited marketing calls to Cingular subscribers through the use of an automatic telephone dialing system and a prerecorded message actions expressly prohibited under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and other laws.
Autodialing systems store or produce telephone numbers to be called using a random or sequential number generator.
Cingular alleges that Sebell conspired with a company in the Dominican Republic, called Florida Vacation Corp., to make the telemarketing calls that occurred in June and July.
Cingular originally filed a “John Doe” lawsuit on this matter in August. It has now amended the earlier complaint by identifying defendants discovered through Cingular’s ongoing investigation.
Cingular’s second lawsuit alleges that American Broadcast Systems Inc. of Seattle, used an autodialing mechanism to send prerecorded messages about “free vacations” to Cingular customers.
In a third lawsuit, Cingular alleges that Go2Prepaid LLC of Miami also made unsolicited prerecorded telemarketing calls to Cingular customers using an autodialing mechanism.
Cingular claims that Go2Prepaid worked in connection with Alo Hispanos of Bogota, Colombia, to make the calls.
Source- http://www.dmnews.com
