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Friday, January 15, 2010
Today's News Headlines
* América Móvil seeks to take control of sister companies - Mexico, Regional
* Operators seeking alternative revenue sources in 2010 - Amdocs - Regional
* Camif mezzanine fund in advanced negotiations - Empla - Regional
* Roundup: Subtel, Stel, Supertel, Iusacell - Regional
* Telecommunications to be restored with Haiti in 72 hours - watchdog - Dominican R.
* Sandvine posts net loss of US$4.6mn in Q4 - Regional
* Bidding rules for dark fiber to go on sale this month - Mexico
* Green Packet targets Latin America as part of its global expansion plan - Regional
* Mobile operators bill US$542mn in Jan-Nov - Paraguay
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* América Móvil seeks to take control of sister companies - Mexico, Regional
Mexican mobile phone giant América Móvil (NYSE: AMX) launched on Wednesday (Jan 13) a US$21bn offer to take control of its sister companies Telmex (NYSE: TMX) and Telmex Internacional (NYSE: TII) (Telint), both controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, América Móvil said in a statement.
América Móvil said it would offer to exchange 2.0474 of its shares for one share in Carso Global Telecom, which controls 59.4% of Telmex and 60.7% of Telint.
The company will also seek to exchange or buy 39.3% of Telint shares that are not in the hands of Carso, offering 0.373 of its own shares or pay 11.66 pesos for every Telint share.
Following the stake swaps, América Móvil plans to delist Telint and Carso from all stock exchanges where they currently trade.
The move is designed to allow América Móvil to offer converged telecoms services of voice data and video across the 18 markets it operates in.
Telint operates phone and cable-TV networks in Brazil, Colombia and five other South American markets.
In a research report, BBVA Bancomer analyst Andres Coello said that in combining the wireless and triple-play businesses, América Móvil would have a similar structure to that of its biggest rival in Latin America, Spain's Telefónica (NYSE: TEF), which recently unified its mobile and fixed operations under one brand, Movistar.
Coello said América Móvil investors will see the move as an imposition by the control group to have to assume the wireline and triple-play businesses of Telmex and Telint.
América Móvil was spun off from Telmex in 2000 to take the weight of faltering landline telephony off of the high growth mobile business.
In a report, Mexican brokerage IXE said that the merger would form a much stronger company. Based on forecasts of the combined financial performance for the three companies in 2010, IXE estimates América Móvil's could reach revenue of 643bn pesos (US$50.6bn), Ebitda of 247bn pesos and net profit of 101bn pesos.
That represents increases of 54.3%, 46%, and 25.8% respectively compared to what América Móvil would have seen without the mergers.
Elías Vicente, analyst with Signals Telecom Consulting, told BNamericas that one must remember that at this early stage the issue is still a share swap and that carrying out a full merger of operations would require the company to get past regulatory hurdles in markets like Colombia and Ecuador.
Telmex Internacional only has a large market share in two markets in the region, Brazil and Colombia, so it may be early to draw conclusions about the impact of combining operations, he said.
By Patrick Nixon
Business News Americas
* Operators seeking alternative revenue sources in 2010 - Amdocs - Regional
US customer management solutions provider Amdocs (NYSE: DOX) is expecting a good year in Latin America as operators increasingly seek tools to provide them with alternative revenue sources, Amdocs' business development manager for Latin America and the Caribbean (CALA), Maurício Falck, told BNamericas.
Last year was tough for operators with some projects on hold, but things are looking set to pick up this year, he added.
"What operators need right now is to improve revenues from data services. And Amdocs has acquired and developed a couple of companies in the past few years that provide solutions that can help the operator to achieve those goals," Falck said.
For example, Amdocs offers a solution that allows operators to personalize their mobile portals according to different customers.
Amdocs also offers solutions that can fit with large and small operators, in highly competitive as well as lower penetrated markets, Falck said.
"The needs in Nicaragua are not the same as in Brazil. We're able to provide specific solutions for low ARPU countries. All markets are target markets," the executive added.
That said, the more mature mobile markets have offered the best opportunities for the company to date as they have close to 100% voice subscriber penetration and most operators have deployed 3G networks.
These markets include Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Costa Rica is of particular interest given that it is in the process of liberalization and auctioning off spectrum for new entrants that are likely to focus heavily on data services.
The company announced this week that Brazilian mobile operator Claro will deploy Amdocs' support customer ordering, sales force automation, e-commerce and web self-service solutions.
This is one of the largest multi platform deployments Amdocs has made with an operator in the region to date.
By Patrick Nixon
Business News Americas
* Camif mezzanine fund in advanced negotiations - Empla - Regional
The Central American mezzanine infrastructure fund (Camif), which closed late last year at US$150mn, is offering long-term funding in 10 Latin American countries, fund manager EMP Latin America's (Empla) senior associate Lucas de Beaufort told BNamericas.
Camif made its first mezzanine investment in Mexican palm oil producer Promoción e Industrialización de Palma in December and is in advanced negotiations for a number of investments. "We're looking at various renewable energy potential deals and expect to close these opportunities shortly," de Beaufort said.
The fund's partners are IDB, the World Bank's IFC, the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei), the Mexican Fondo de Fondos (CMIC) and the Finnish fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund).
Camif offers long-term mezzanine financing to private infrastructure companies in Central America, Mexico, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
The fund will focus on traditional infrastructure projects such as transportation, energy and telecommunications, according to de Beaufort, but it will also invest in sectors such as natural resources, tourism, agribusiness, alternative fuels, health and education. Related sectors include water and sanitation, wastewater treatment, recycling and irrigation.
"Central America has huge infrastructure needs and given the dramatic drop in private sector capital flows to the region, Camif is very well positioned to make profitable mezzanine investments in this market environment," Empla's managing partner James Martin said in a release.
Mezzanine financing is proving to be a preferred solution for strengthening capital structures and attracting senior debt to viable projects, especially in Camif's focus region.
Empla is a joint venture between EMP Global and the senior members of its Latin American team. EMP Global is a private equity fund manager focused on emerging markets.
By Greta Bourke
Business News Americas
* Roundup: Subtel, Stel, Supertel, Iusacell - Regional
Chile's rural digital network program has extended internet services to 280 towns in the southern island of Chiloé, telecoms regulator Subtel announced in a release.
The 1.35bn-peso (US$2.7mn) project, which Subtel covered with public subsidies from its telecommunications development fund, will benefit 6,000 homes, rural schools and health centers.
The rural digital network will continue connecting rural areas across Chile through 2011.
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Communications firm Stel Chile has called a shareholders meeting for January 26, to hold a vote on increasing capital by 1.20bn pesos (US$2.4mn), Stel reported to the securities regulator SVS.
The increase is to continue developing the growth plan of the company and its subsidiary, Stel Access.
Stel Chile offers local and long distance telephony as well as private network solutions, while Stel Access offers broadband services to 130,000 homes in the municipality of Maipú, located in capital Santiago.
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A total 96.4% of complaints and requests for information submitted to Ecuador's telecoms supervisory body Supertel were resolved in 2009, the watchdog reported.
Last year, 24,260 requirements were made to Supertel, the majority of which were requests for information, at 20,794. Another 3,268 were service quality complaints.
***
Mexican mobile operator Iusacell - the country's third largest - has launched the BlackBerry Tour smartphone, which it said is "a superior option for business travelers."
The handset, exclusive to Grupo Iusacell in Mexico, works with dual technology - GSM and CDMA, depending on which is the most efficient network of the country in which the user is located.
The BlackBerry Tour offers access to multimedia applications, GPS location services, e-mail or video transmission "with unparalleled efficiency and very competitive roaming and international long distance rates," Iusacell said.
The Mexican operator decided in an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on December 30 to withdraw from the Mexico City stock exchange BMV.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Telecommunications to be restored with Haiti in 72 hours - watchdog - Dominican R.
The Dominican Republic expects communications with earthquake-struck neighboring Haiti to be restored in less than 72 hours, the Dominican Republic's telecoms regulator Indotel said in a statement Wednesday (Jan 13).
"The interconnection system between Haiti and the Dominican Republic was not affected, so basically it was an issue of the local infrastructure in Haiti," Indotel head José Rafael Vargas said.
Vargas said that as antennas in Haiti had been damaged, Indotel had requested Dominican Republic operators to increase the power of the signal coming from towers on the border between the two countries.
Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, suffered a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, causing mass destruction and loss of life.
Vargas said the watchdog would provide special satellite phones for Dominican Republic officials stationed in Haiti as well as workers of international aid organizations.
As regards the Dominican Republic's mobile phone operators, Orange Dominicana has created a special committee to coordinate efforts which consist of humanitarian aid and technical aid to restore communications.
Orange has interconnection only with Haiti's largest operator Digicel but has contacted Voila, of the Trilogy group, to offer help, Indotel said. The company has also set up an aid center in the border town of Jimaní and is sending base station equipment and cell phones.
The UN has requested donations of 100 mobile phones to help coordinate aid efforts.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Sandvine posts net loss of US$4.6mn in Q4 - Regional
Canadian residential broadband solutions provider Sandvine posted a net loss of Cdn$4.7mn (US$4.6mn) in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to a net loss of Cdn$1.8mn in the year-ago quarter, the company said in a statement.
The company's revenues for the period reached Cdn$19mn, an increase of 2% from the same period last year.
"This was a solid quarter for Sandvine. We reported record revenue from the DSL market and had another good quarter in the wireless market. All of our sales regions globally continue to contribute meaningfully to our business," company president and CEO Dave Caputo said.
For full 2009, the company posted a net loss of Cdn$19.5mn, basically flat compared to 2008.
Globally, Sandvine added eight new service provider customers during the quarter, one of these new clients located in the Latin American and Caribbean (CALA) region. The company's VP for marketing and sales, Tom Donnelly, recently told BNamericas that Sandvine expects to attract approximately a dozen new customers in Latin America during 2010.
The company has over 180 service provider customers in more than 70 countries.
Sandvine's solutions help operators to increase customer satisfaction, mitigate the proliferation of malicious traffic, manage network congestion and deliver QoS-prioritized multimedia services.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Bidding rules for dark fiber to go on sale this month - Mexico
The bidding rules for an auction of two strands of dark fiber - owned by state power company CFE - for a third party to offer internet services are ready to go on sale, Mexico's transport and communications minister SCT Juan Molinar Horcasitas was reported as saying by local press.
The rules should be made available some time this month, with the concession contract expected to be awarded before the end of the first quarter.
Preliminary bidding rules have already been published, however SCT has modified the rules taking into account comments and recommendations from a public consultation.
The fiber, measuring 19,467km, will have 300 access points. The concession license will be for 20 years and is renewable for another 10.
The concession is part of a drive this year by the Mexican government to boost the telecoms sector. The government is also planning to auction mobile spectrum over the coming months.
The CFE network represents an alternative to that of dominant fixed line telco Telmex (NYSE: TMX), giving other telcos and cable companies a choice for reaching certain parts of the country.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Green Packet targets Latin America as part of its global expansion plan - Regional
Developer of mobile broadband networking solutions Green Packet is looking to expand its presence to Central and South America, international press reported company senior general manager Kelvin Lee as saying.
This plan is part of a global strategy to increase the company's sales force and to expand presence in certain regions such as the US, Europe and Latin America.
Lee said that Green Packet currently is the world's number three WiMax modem vendor, with a 14% share of the global market at end-2009. By end-2010, the company aims to reach a market share of 30%. The executive also said that the company expects to increase its shipment volume at least three-fold this year.
"We expect to launch more WiMax modems, WiMax-enabled services and carrier solutions this year," he added.
Based in Malaysia, the company also has offices in the US, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Bahrain and Thailand.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Mobile operators bill US$542mn in Jan-Nov - Paraguay
Paraguay's mobile telephony operators posted revenues of US$542mn during the first 11 months of 2009, up 12.5% in nominal terms compared to the same period in 2008, local press reported, citing data from Paraguay's economy ministry.
During November alone, mobile operators billed US$51.4mn, up 9% in nominal terms compared to US$47.2mn in November 2008.
Mobile telephony operators billed US$517mn in full year 2008, up 16.6% compared to 2007, according to previous press reports.
There are now approximately 6mn mobile lines in the country.
Paraguay's mobile operators are Telecel, a unit of Luxembourg-based Millicom (Nasdaq: MICC); Hola, which is backed by Japanese investors; Personal, a unit of Telecom Argentina (NYSE: TEO); and Claro, a unit of Mexican giant América Móvil (NYSE: AMX).
By Business News Americas staff reporters
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In-deph interview
* Preparing the network for application enablement
Victor Agnellini
Corporate VP of transformation
Alcatel-Lucent
Regional
http://www.bnamericas.com/interviews/telecommunications/Victor_Agnellini_,Alcatel-Lucent,1/170072923
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Main companies covered in today's news
* Telecom Americas
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Telecom_Americas-Claro_Brasil/170072923
* TIM Participações S.A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/TIM_Participacoes_S,A,-TIM_Participacoes/170072923
* Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Autoridad_Reguladora_de_los_Servicios_Publicos-Aresep/170072923
* Personal Paraguay
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Personal_Paraguay-Personal_Paraguay/170072923
* Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones de Chile
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Subsecretaria_de_Telecomunicaciones_de_Chile-Subtel/170072923
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