After announcing plans to acquire Mexico’s No. 3 mobile operator Iusacell, AT&T looks to be eyeing Nextel Mexico.
Speaking at a recent investor conference in New York, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said the company doesn’t need América Móvil’s assets in Mexico to put its strategy plan into practice, even though as a dominant player, América Móvil is expected to sell assets to comply with Mexico’s new telecom reform legislation. Instead, Stephenson said that Nextel’s assets are interesting and attractive.
Last September, Nextel Mexico, which is owned by U.S.-based NII Holdings, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because it could not fulfill its financial obligations. NII Holdings has kept its Mexican and Brazilian units, but there is no guarantee that the company will sell them even though it recently sold Nextel Chile to a group of international investors for an undisclosed sum.
One thing that may make Nextel Mexico appealing to AT&T is its spectrum in the 800 MHz band that can be used to develop an LTE network. Analysts believe that AT&T’s entrance into the Mexican market will increase competition.
AT&T reaching for more Mexico assets
In addition to Iusacell, AT&T will have a presence in the country through the satellite television provider DirecTV, which AT&T is looking to acquire for nearly $49 billion. On Nov. 18, AT&T announced it had received approval from Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Institute for the proposed acquisition. The deal has already received approval in Brazil, and Trinidad and Tobago.
In a statement, the carrier said that when the merger receives all the final regulatory approvals, the combined companies will be able to increase competition in the cable market and “redefine the video entertainment industry by delivering content to consumers across multiple screens.”
More Latin American news:
COLOMBIA — U.K.-based BT launched a data center near Bogota in response to the growing demand for cloud computing services across Latin America. According to the company, the new data center complements BT’s infrastructure supporting the region. BT also owns data centers in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela.
CHILE — Telecom association Atelmo, which includes Entel, Movistar, Claro, Nextel and VTR, is evaluating a proposal to create a public-private alliance with the government to invest about $26 billion over the next 10 years to develop the ICT sector.
BRAZIL — According to Brazil’s regulatory agency Anatel, the country ended September with 278.48 million mobile users, of which 213.01 million were prepaid. Vivo remained the largest mobile operator in the market with 28.7% market share.
MEXICO — At the end of the third quarter, Mexico reported 102.5 million mobile lines with an 84.5% penetration rate. América Móvil’s Telcel, considered a dominant player by the government, had 68.8% market share. Telefónica’s Movistar followed with 20.1%, with Iusacell No. 3 at 8.4% and Nextel at 2.8%.
BOLIVIA — Millicom’s Tigo entered the cable TV market in Bolivia. Tigo’s services include satellite TV for rural areas and microwave-based service in cities.
ECUADOR — A new underwater cable is being deployed in Ecuador as part of a project led by Telconet. The submarine cable is about 2,000 kilometers long and will cross Colombia, Panama and Puerto Rico, among other countries, and will reach the mainland of the United States.
PERU — A local paper reported that the Peruvian unit of the Vietnamese military-run telco Viettel, dubbed Bitel, is planning to launch LTE services in the country in addition to its current 3G network. Bitel is said to be looking to secure 700 MHz spectrum to support the LTE launch.
BRAZIL — América Móvil’s Brazilian subsidiaries Embratel, Claro and NET Servicos announced that their respective boards have approved the proposed corporate reorganization plan.
Wondering what’s going on in Latin America? Why don’t you follow me on Twitter? Also check out all of RCR Wireless News’ Latin American content.
