Millicom partners with Western Union for Cross-Border Mobile Money Transfer Services (Latin America)
Western Union, a leader in global payment services, and Millicom International Cellular, a leading mobile operator in 13 markets across Latin America and Africa operating under the Tigo brand, have signed an agreement to introduce cross-border mobile money transfers in Latin America, as per an announcement at the Mobile World Congress 2012.
The first cross-border money transfer service under this agreement will be launched soon in Paraguay under the Giros Tigo brand (Tigo Cash). Millicom will then be able to offer its customers in Paraguay the ability to receive money across borders using their mobile phones.
The service will be rolled out over time in other markets in Latin America. This agreement will allow millions of Tigo customers to benefit from Western Union’s extensive network of more than 450,000 agent locations across 200 countries and territories, whilst Western Union will deepen its distribution reach in the markets in which Millicom operates.
Diane Scott, chief marketing officer and president, Western Union Ventures, has said that they’re excited to join forces with Millicom, their first mobile money partner in Latin America. As a leader in moving money around the world via a variety of channels — retail and electronic — it’s important that they continue to evolve and expand their services so they are even more convenient to use and accessible to as many people as possible. Further, they’re uniquely positioned to do this with their network of more than 450,000 agent locations, long-standing experience in moving money, and agreements with leading telecommunications groups like Millicom.
Marcelo Cataldo, Head of Mobile Financial Services, Millicom Latin America, has said that they are pleased to be the first in Latin America to be launching a cross-border money transfer service in partnership with Western Union. Also, they continuously strive to offer their customers useful and affordable services, from communication to entertainment and mobile financial services.
In Paraguay, they have been offering mobile financial services for over 18 months and, in the last quarter of 2011, around 20 per cent of their customers used these facilities. With the addition of cross-border mobile money transfer services which they will soon provide in conjunction with Western Union, they aim to bring additional benefits to a growing number of their customers in Latin America.
Specific services under this agreement will vary by country, but over time, Tigo customers in most of Millicom’s Latin American markets will be able to receive money from Western Union customers directly into their mobile accounts. They will also be able to cash out transactions at any Tigo location offering the Giros Tigo facility.
Western Union offers its Mobile Money Transfer service in Bangladesh, Canada, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, the Philippines, Tanzania and the U.S.
Millicom offers Mobile Financial Services and in particular in-market money transfers in Paraguay, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Tanzania, Ghana and Rwanda and will extend its offering to more services and into more markets over time.
Millicom selects Huawei for international long- distance network deployment
Millicom has selected Huawei to deploy an international long-distance network in Central America. Using Huawei’s One Network solution, the new network will cover three countries: Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
Huawei’s One Network features precise calling control, flexible service dispatch, and simplified operation and maintenance, which will enable Millicom to introduce new types of long-distance services that open revenue streams and reinforce customer loyalty.
According to Zhang Shunmao, President of North Latin America, Huawei, with their unique strength and strong experience in deploying convergent networks, they are delighted to build a multi-country network that will increase operational efficiency and business profitability for Millicom.
As a substitute for the legacy long-distance switches in the existing networks, Millicom will deploy an All-IP-based multi-country gateway that will significantly simplify network architecture and bring an enhanced user experience to Millicom’s customers by improving voice quality and the reliability of cross-nation calls. The deployment of Huawei’s One Network solution will facilitate a smooth All-IP network transformation for Millicom by fully utilizing the existing network resources.
Costa Rican Mobile License Tender delayed yet again
The awarding of a mobile operator license in Costa Rica has been pushed back again till the mid- January 2011, marking the latest in a series of delays in breaking the monopoly held by the state-owned Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE).
The regulator, Sutel has previously stated that five companies – Cable & Wireless, Telef³nica, Claro, Digicel and Millicom – have requested the documents and are said to be serious about bidding. Six other companies are said to have requested the tender documents but are not considered serious contenders and may have been requesting the documents for informational purposes.
According to reports citing Carolina Mora, the spokesperson for Sutel, the company will submit the applications of three companies to the Executive Branch for review by mid-January 2011.
The government was obliged to open up the market to competition as a condition of entry into the Central American Free-Trade Agreement.
Millicom plans new strategies to counter Bharti’s Africa entry
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s Africa entry with services such as money transfers, banking and insurance has been planned to be countered by Millicom International Cellular SA, a company with mobile-phone customers in countries from Guatemala to Tanzania by accelerating its growth process and bringing new innovations for the people.
Millicom operates under the brand name is Tigo and was established 20 years ago by Sweden’s Kinnevik Investment AB as a holding company for cellular assets.
Like Bharti, France Telecom SA, Vodafone Group Plc and America Movil SAB de CV, Millicon is also pushing third- generation services for wireless Internet besides broadening its portfolio that includes SMS-based information services and microloans for topping up prepaid balances. Millicom was also interested in some of Zain’s Africa assets that Bharti agreed to acquire for $10.7 billion in March. In the process to speed up growth, the operator is also planning to bid in Costa Rica.
Meanwhile, other Greenfield operations or mergers would also be considered if the company is capable of becoming first or second in their markets and producing at least $100 million in annual revenue.
According to Chief Executive Officer Mikael Grahne, sooner or later markets come to a certain level of maturity and to get growth from then on you need new products and services, so Millicom is very heavily focused on anticipating that and the company will pursue customers who can pay more for extras and better network quality, rather than competing strictly on price of basic services.
Analysts feel that Bharti’s entry into Africa is likely to spark a wave of consolidation as less profitable players exit the market and bigger one resort to extensive investment. Earlier, an investment of as much as 7 billion euros ($8.8 billion) in deals focused on Africa and the Middle East in the next five years has been announced by France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard while Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao announced this month that sub-Saharan Africa is among the three priority areas†for the world’s largest mobile-phone company.
Millicom reports better profit in Q1 (Africa)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Better quarterly profit as a result of cost controls and higher value services has been reported by telecom operator Millicom International Cellular (MIC). As per Chief financial officer Francois-Xavier Roger, the macroeconomic situation remained uncertain, but strong results over the past two quarters meant the firm might beat its own guidance this year.
The EBITDA of the company rose 20% to USD424 million and the revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2010 were USD905 million reporting an increase of 16%. The company had announced earlier that it will return USD800 million to shareholders and that it still had the muscle to make acquisitions but currently, the firm does not seem to have any significant planned acquisitions.
According to Xavier-Roger, Millicom was interested in purchases in both Africa and Latin America, but would only do deals if they fit the company’s strategy of being a leading player in the market concerned.
Vimpelcom delays Millicom Laos acquisition
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The agreement to acquire 74.1 percent stake in Millicom Lao has yet not been completed by Vimpelcom. The delay is despite the fact that all the conditions of the agreement have been met.
Acquisition of a 78 percent stake in Millicom’s mobile operator in Laos in September 2009 was announced by Vimpelcom. Laos’s government owns the remaining 22 percent of Millicom Lao.
According to Millicom, it is reserving its rights under the terms of the agreement, including the right to seek compensation for any loss of value resulting from VimpelCom’s decision not to complete the transaction.
It has also been confirmed by Millicom that it will proceed with the sale of its Laos unit.
Telefonica purchase of ETB raises questions (Colombia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Several market implications might arise with the potential purchase of Colombian telecoms operator ETB by Telefonica as ETB also owns 25% of mobile operator Tigo.
Tigo which is controlled by Luxembourg-based mobile group Millicom International Cellular had 4.19 million subscribers at the end of the year while Telefonica operating under the Movistar brand had 8.96 million subscribers at the end of 2009. When combined, the total subscriber base of the company will become 13.2 million, making it a distant second from America Movil’s Comcel, which ended the year with 28.8 million subscribers.
The merger will also result into four million fixed line subscribers and 1 million internet customers of Telefonica. Telefonica might also sell its stake in Tigo after which the other two shareholders, UNE-EPM with a 25% stake and Millicom with 50%, would have the right of first refusal.
EUR700 million (USD962 million) would be invested by Telefonica to acquire a controlling stake in ETB. 86.59% of ETB is currently controlled by the Bogota municipality and minority shareholders have the remainder. In order to improve its situation in the highly competitive telecom market, a partner is needed by ETB. The telco plans to sell new shares, equivalent to a 36.6% stake.
Etisalat’s Sri Lankan operation begins
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After acquiring 100% stake in Tigo mobile firm, UAE operator Etisalat has launched its operations in Colombo, Sri Lanka, targeting 1 million customers by the end of the year. A subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular, Tigo was bought at an enterprise value of USD 207 million.
HSPA+ on the network is expected with a connectivity speed of 28 Mbps, on par with the company’s operations worldwide.
According to Etisalat Lanka CEO Dumindra Ratnayaka, within one year, the company will be rolling out 1,500 2G base stations and 500 3G base stations islandwide. Etisalat will be launching its coverage in Jaffna during the mini Infotel exhibitions scheduled to take place there on 26 February
