Carlos Slim plans to merge Brazilian unit to cut costs
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Brazilian fixed line and mobile businesses has been planned to be merged by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim in a bid to cut costs. Under the plan, the fixed telephony division Embratel will be amalgamated with mobile arm Telecom Americas (Claro) with the local unit of America Movil possibly within the next few months.
Jose Formoso Martinez, the current CEO at Embratel, could be appointed the head of the enlarged entity. Claro’s chief executive Joao Cox is also in the race.
The financial results of the Brazilian operations has become a matter of concern for Carlos Slim and he views the structural merger as core to the group’s ability to stave off competition from the likes of Paris-based media and telecoms conglomerate Vivendi, Telefonica of Spain and Portugal Telecom.
Brazil’s SIM cards total reached 169m mark
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: According to the Brazil National Telecommunications Agency, or Anatel, 169.8 million registered SIM cards were recorded in the country last month. A total of 1.7 million net new additions with a rise of 1% were recorded in November.
Spain’s Telefonica and Portugal Telecom’s joint venture lead the market with a 29.6% market share at the month-end and was ahead of Telmex-owned Telecom Americas (Claro) with 25.4% and Telecom Italia’s TIM Brasil in third with 23.8%.
Vivo increases 2008 CAPEX to BRL6.07bn (Brazil)
Brazilian mobile operator Vivo has announced a tripling of its planned investment for 2008 to BRL6.07 billion (USD3.48 billion), up from BRL1.92 billion in 2007. It is not clear, however, if the proposed capital expenditure for the current year includes the BRL1.3 billion acquisition of rival carrier Telemig. Vivo’s CAPEX is considerably higher than the figures announced by rivals TIM Brasil (BRL3.6 billion) and Telecom Americas’ Claro unit (BRL700 million).
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