Mexico

Telefonica mulling tie up with Mexican telcos and cablecos

On 03.10.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With a view to bid on access to the fibre-optic infrastructure being auctioned by the government on behalf of state power utility Comision Federal de Electridad, tie up with a number of smaller Mexican telcos and cablecos is considered by Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica.

Access to two unused portions of its fibre-optic network which covers around 20,000km will also be auctioned by CFE. Under the preliminary rules announced by the Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT), the fibre strands will be divided into three geographic regions.

After the announcement of an expected joint bid with Telefonica by the executives at Megacable last month, Francisco Gil, head of Telefonica in Mexico pointed towards a possible tie up and as a result, formation of a consortium.

T-Mobile USA’s Nokia 5230 Nuron to come with Ovi maps

On 03.09.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The first U.S. device to arrive preloaded with Nokia’s popular Ovi Maps navigation application has been announced by Nokia. It is T-Mobile USA’s forthcoming Nokia 5230 Nuron. It is also the first from a national U.S. operator to come preloaded with Nokia’s Ovi Store mobile content marketplace.

T-Mobile is also offering carrier billing as well as credit card purchases. Free turn-by-turn navigation and directions, weather forecasts and Facebook-based location sharing, the 3.2-inch touchscreen Nurion device Android Develops Enhanced OpenGL Support are some of the features of the smartphone.

Ovi Maps also features recommendations from Lonely Planet guides. Scheduled to be shipped in the next few weeks, T-Mobile USA exclusive comes preloaded with maps for the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The announcement that more than 3 million consumers have downloaded the Ovi Maps application since its debut in late January was made by Nokia during last month’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona.

According to Niklas Savander, the handset giant’s executive vice president of services, Ovi Maps now averages more than one download per second, 24 hours a day, translating to around 100,000 downloads on a daily basis.

Tagged with: Barcelona • Canada • Droid • Europe • Facebook • Mexico • Mobile Content • Mobile World Congress • Nokia • Nokia 5230 • North Amercia • OpenGL • operator • Ovi Maps • Ovi Store • T-Mobile • T-Mobile USA • USA

Telefonica files new complaint against Telmex (Mexico)

On 02.25.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A formal complaint has been lodged by Spanish telecom giant Telefonica criticizing the watchdog for discontinuing an investigation into potential anti-competitive practices by fixed line incumbent Telefonos de Mexico.

The complaint has been lodged with the Mexican antitrust body Comision Federal de Competencia (Cofeco).

Telefonica alleged that Telmex’s bundling strategy was hindering competition, leading to a two-year investigation by Cofeco. At the end of the investigation in August 2009, the case was closed by Cofeco citing lack of evidence against Telmex.

Telmex’s decision not to pass on to the consumer a new 3% telecoms tax introduced earlier has been objected by Telefonica in its new complaint raised to Cofeco.

Tagged with: Cofeco • comision federal de competencia • Mexico • North America • Telefonica • Telefonos de Mexico • Telmex

Nokia considers opening a factory in Argentina

On 02.22.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Opening of a new handset factory in Argentina by Nokia is on the cards thus, taking its tally of own-factories to ten worldwide. The handset production of the company is being moved to lower cost countries and the move came under controversy when it closed its Bochum plant in Germany.

According to Nokia spokesman Tapani Kaskinen, Nokia is investigating the possibility to arrange mobile device assembly in Argentina.

The company currently has ten factories in nine countries: Brazil, China, Finland, Hungary, India, Mexico, Romania, South Korea and recently it announced its plans to cut around 12% of its workforce at its Finnish factory as it switched the facility from low-cost handset production towards higher margin smartphones.

Tagged with: Argentina • ASIA • Brazil • China • Europe • Finland • Germany • Hungary • India • Korea • Mexico • Mobile Device • Nokia • North America • Oman • Romania • South America • South Korea

30 operators pre-qualify Mexican mobile license bid

On 02.19.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The bid for Mexican mobile license has attracted applications from over 30 operators who have submitted the required documents. It was announced by Cofetel at mid-January that 93 companies acquired the bid documents for the mobile license tender launched on January 6.

However, only 30 have presented the required documentation to demonstrate their technical and financial capacity to participate in the tender process. 120 MHz spectrum in the 1.7 and 1.9 GHz frequency bands will be auctioned by Mexican telecoms regulator Cofetel.

Around 13 companies pre-qualified for the 1.7 GHz frequency band tender and 17 operators filed for the 1.9 GHz spectrum tender. Operators receiving Cofetel’s authorization will have to submit their formal bids on 25 May.

Tagged with: Acquire • Cofetel • Launch • Mexican telecoms • Mexico • North America • operator

Nextel Mexico’s 30% stake bought by Televisa

On 02.16.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Stakes in local unit of NII Holdings’, the mobile operator Nextel Mexico, will be bought by pay-TV provider and media group Televisa at a price of USD 1.44 billion cash for an initial 30 percent equity stake in Nextel Mexico. 70 percent stake in Nextel Mexico will be maintained by NII along with the management.

An additional 7.5 percent stake in Nextel Mexico can also be acquired by Televisa from the third or fourth anniversary of the completion of the initial transaction.

The services will be cross sold to each other customers base. The companies have also planned to use the Televisa media and distribution channels to market Nextel services and work on bundling services and developing a quadruple-play offering.

Tagged with: Mexico • NEXTEL • Nextel Mexico • NII Holdings • North America • operator • Televisa

Telmex Internacional revenue rises 32.1% (Brazil)

On 02.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The fourth quarter revenue of South American fixed-line operator Telmex Internacional has been reported which went up 32.1 percent to reach MXN 25.722 billion. Revenue increased 14.2 percent in Argentina, 7.2 percent in Brazil, 24.9 percent in Chile, 12.8 percent in Colombia and 5.3 percent in Peru.

With 21.8 percent increase, the revenue-generating units of the company reached 18.5 million at the end of 2009. The growth has been attributed to the Brazilian unit Embratel. With 47.3 percent increase, EBITDA for the quarter totaled MXN 6.371 billion.

An investment of USD 1.164 billion over all of 2009 was made by the Mexico-based operator, mainly in Brazil and Colombia.

Tagged with: Argentina • Brazil • Chile • Colombia • EBITDA • Embratel • Mexico • operator • South America • Telmex Internacional

NII contracts Nokia to manage network in five countries

On 02.11.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Nokia Siemens Networks has been contracted by Latin American mobile operator NII Holdings to manage its network operations across its regional footprint. 1,000 NII Holdings employees will transfer to Nokia Siemens Networks under the terms of the deal.

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru are covered in the contract where NII operating under the Nextel brand, will hold its operations.

According to Alan Strauss, chief technology officer at NII Holdings, the focus of the company to deliver differentiated wireless service is strengthened by this partnership with Nokia Siemens Networks, as it allows NII to increase the operational flexibility, improve the cost efficiencies, and improve the service quality.

Tagged with: Brazil • Chile • Latin America • Mexico • NEXTEL • NII Holdings • Nokia • Nokia Siemens • operator • Peru

Nextel’s stake to be acquired by Televisa (Mexico)

On 02.09.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: CFC’s approval has been seeked by Mexican media group Televisa to acquire a stake in the local unit of mobile operator NII Holdings. Both the companies have notified the Federal Competition Commission regarding their intention to undertake this acquisition.

The CFC has 30 days to approve or deny the acquisition.

There are 2.9 million customers and 3.6 percent mobile market share of NII Holdings operating in Latin America under the Nextel brand name, in Mexico at the end of September 2009.

Tagged with: Acquisition • federal competition commission • Latin America • Mexico • NEXTEL • NII Holdings • operator • Televisa