Argentina: New President of Telefónica Argentina appointed
Back in March, Federico Rava was appointed new President of Telefónica de Argentina, taking over Luis Blasco’s role. Blasco will continue to sit on the company’s Board of Directors.
Argentina: Telecom Italia and Fintech complete Telecom Argentina’s deal
Telecom Italia has finalised the sale of its stake in Telecom Argentina to Fintech. The transaction was valued at over US$960mn.
Argentina: Innovattel signed credit deal with Albright Capital Management
Innovattel has signed a five-year credit facility with Albright Capital Management for US$45mn. The funds will be utilised for the deployment of build-to-suit projects in Argentina. Manuel Aviles, CEO and Founder of Innovattel, commented that thanks to this funding, the towerco is “well positioned to make history in the Southern Cone region.”
Argentina, Brazil: Nextel Argentina sale completed - Brazil up for sale?
NII Holdings concluded the sale of Nextel Argentina after transferring the remaining 51% of its interest to Grupo Clarin. Steve Shindler, CEO of NII, commented: “This transaction is consistent with our strategy to concentrate our resources on our operations in Brazil and improve our liquidity position.”
Recent speculation suggest thats Nextel Brasil might be up for sale too, for an estimated US$300mn. However, Nextel Brasil CEO, Francisco Valim, has denied the rumours.
Brazil: Telefónica Brasil benefits from tower sale
Telefónica Brasil has reported Q1 profits for US$346mn, following the sale of its towers to Telxius and the acquisition of broadband provider GVT. During an analysts’ presentation, CEO Amos Genish commented that nine months after the integration of GVT, savings are aligned with expectations.
Brazil: TIM Brasil up for sale?
Vivendi is reportedly assessing the possibility to sell its majority stake in TIM Brasil, after having acquired it back in 2014 as part of the GVT sale to Telefónica.
Brazil, Chile, Peru: Telefónica transfers sites to Telxius in Chile, Peru and Brazil
Telefónica Peru announced the transfer of 900 towers to Telxius’ subsidiary, Towercom Latam. In previous weeks, Movistar Chile published its plan to transfer 328 towers valued at US$11.5mn to Telxius and in Brazil, Telefónica Brasil (Vivo) has sold 1,655 sites to Towerco Latam Brasil, the local subsidiary of Telxius for a reported US$212.6mn.
Brazil: Nextel leads 4G market in Rio de Janeiro
Nextel took over the 4G leadership in Rio de Janeiro in 2015, scoring a market share of 27.4% and surpassing rival Vivo. Nextel is planning its 4G launch in São Paulo in 2016 and reported 2.5mn customers in 2015 (+68.5% YOY).
Brazil: Vivo’s data surpasses voice
In 2015, Brazilian operator Vivo generated more revenue with data than voice. Specifically, data accounted for 51.4% of Vivo’s ARPU in Q4 2015.
Brazil: Oi’s bonds downgraded as TIM merger plans fall apart
In February 2016 TIM rejected a plan to merge with Oi, which contributed to the fall of Oi’s bonds (-15.7%). The investment firm LetterOne, which holds the rights to the tie-up until May 23, stated that “L1 Technology has been informed by TIM that ... it does not wish to enter into further discussions, about the facilitation of a merger between Oi and TIM in Brazil.”
In the absence of the merger, Oi’s bonds have been downgraded to B by Fitch. Similarly, Standard & Poor’s downgraded Oi’s global scale credit rating from BB+ to BB- and the domestic scale credit rating from brAA+ to brA-.
Brazil: TIM commits to Brazilian investments
TIM Brasil published its investment plans for the biennium 2016-2018 and announced capex for US$4.9bn, excluding spectrum. Along with the investments, TIM is planning savings for as much as US$280mn by 2017.
Colombia: Goldman Sachs and Innova Capital fund Colombian towerco
Goldman Sachs and Innova Capital Partners have launched a joint venture to provide financing to Golden Comunicaciones, a Colombian tower developer. According to Patricia Rodriguez, Innova’s head of Latin American Development “Colombia presents a unique opportunity for growth in the telecom sector, among other industries, and we look forward to developing additional opportunities in the region.”
Herman Torres, CEO of Golden, added that “Golden offers our wireless customers a significant footprint of high quality tower assets across Colombia. Today, the investment made by Goldman Sachs and Innova will enable us to reduce the digital divide that exists in our country and undoubtedly will enable us to improve our current network infrastructure.”
Colombia: Colombian regulator pushes for less limitations for new towers
Colombian regulator CRC is liaising with mayors of Colombian cities, namely Bogotá, Cajica, Cali, Ibague, Lorica, Monteria, Planeta Rica and Popayan, to analyse their Land Management Plans. Municipalities are being requested to remove limitations to the deployment of telecom infrastructure. The regulator’s recommendations are likely to extend to other municipalities including Cartagena, Palmira and Floridablanca.
Costa Rica: Costa Rica to review infrastructure law
The Coordination Commission for the Installation or Expansion of Telecommunications Infrastructure (CCIAIT) has published the Action Plan for Telecommunications Infrastructure, which outlines several goals to be achieved in the tower sector. One of the key aspects of the plan is the creation of a comprehensive record of infrastructure to maximise their exploitation and the use of state resources to develop greenfield projects.
Costa Rica: Telesites enters Costa Rica
Telesites has been awarded a 300 BTS project by Claro in Costa Rica. The project is Telesites’ first outside of Mexico, where the towerco had already built 2,009 new sites by Q4 2015.
Cuba: Cuba sets ambitious telecom goals for 2016
Cuba is expected to add as many as 500,000 new mobile lines in 2016. In a recent plan published by State-owned operator ETECSA, the company outlines several goals to enhance the QoS in the country and aims at reaching 46% penetration rate by the end of the year.
Dominican Republic: PTI adds 545 towers in the Dominican Republic
Viva, the third carrier in the Dominican Republic, has agreed to sell 145 towers as well as marketing rights of over 400 sites to Phoenix Tower International (PTI). In parallel, Viva was sold by Trilogy International Partners to Telemicro Group, a local media company owned by businessman Juan Ramon Gomez Diaz.
PTI has been aggressively pursuing growth opportunities in Central and South America and this is the second deal the towerco has struck in the Dominican Republic after the acquisition of 190 sites from Teletower Dominicana in November 2015.
Dominican Republic: Costa Rica plans new spectrum auction
The Costa Rican Telecommunications Superintendence (SUTEL) is planning a spectrum auction for the assignment of 1,800 MHz and 2,100 MHz spectrum. The terms of the auction are yet to be published but the government aims at auctioning a total of 70MHz of spectrum in these bands which were left over during the 2011 tender. Both Claro and Movistar have previously requested more spectrum to further enhance their services.
Dominican Republic: Altice commits to investments in the Dominican Republic
Following the acquisition of Orange and Tricom, Altice plans to invest around US$138mn in 2016 in the Dominican Republic to upgrade its network. The company plans to increase its 4G presence in all major cities and expand the 3G network to 90% of the population.
Mexico: Mexican carriers could be fined for dropped calls
Telcel, Iusacell (now AT&T) and Movistar are facing a potential fine of US$250mn for service failures from 2010. The ruling comes after the collective action promoted by the Consumer Protection regulator, PROFECO, which declared that back in 2010, dropped calls amounted to 3.6 billion.
Mexico: Telesites’ subsidiaries merge
Opsimex and Promotora de Sites, two of Telesites’ subsidiaries, have merged in March 2016. Opsimex was created back in January 2015 as a result of the spin off of Telcel while Promotora de Sites was set up after the spin off of Sercotel.
Mexico: Telcel and AT&T receive AWS blocks
IFETEL confirmed the allocation of AWS spectrum blocks to Telcel and AT&T. The two carriers have been awarded 15-year licenses back in February and the Mexican government will generate as much as US$2.5bn from the auction.
Mexico: Telesites announces 2015 revenue
Telesites reported revenues for US$244mn in 2015. The Mexican towerco highlighted that 63.3% of its revenue is generated by tower rental. Meanwhile, the tariff price war, and increasingly competitive towerco landscape in Mexico are combining to put downward pressure on lease rates, which are now below the CALA average.
Peru: US$1.1bn invested in Peruvian telecoms in 2015
The Supervisory Agency for Private Investment in Telecommunications (OSIPTEL) has reported that in 2015, Peruvian carriers invested as much as US$1.1bn in infrastructure. The Agency’s Chairman, Mr Gonzalo Ruiz Diaz added that the number of antennas in the country went up by 24.6% (15,072) as of Q4 2015 as a result of the increased level of investments by the carriers. But added that the country still needs as many as 14,000 new antennas to reach good level of coverage. TowerXchange estimate there are currently 9,450 towers in Peru
