Nextel Brazil has launched an important stage of the strategy to expand its share in the mobile market in Brazil. After registering significant growth in its 3G and 4G customer base in the past two years, reaching nearly 2 million lines, and wining the lead in post-paid net additions in Rio de Janeiro, Nextel is now aiming to reposition the brand in the country and establish a new form of relationship with mobile users, the operator said.

The company is betting on flexible plans, tailored to the needs of each customer, offering them the possibility of opting for the voice and internet franchise that best suits their profile, plus the ability to change their combination every month, whenever they want. Three service packages are available: Small, Medium and Large, with data franchises of 2 GB, 5 GB and 10 GB and voice franchises of 50 minutes, 500 minutes and 2,500 minutes, offering nine different combinations.

TIM Brasil has commenced testing of 4G in Ponta Grossa, with local customers already being able to browse the internet at higher data transmission speeds. TIM Brasil highlighted that the system was being trialed and would receive improvements, and coverage would be expanded by the end of the year.

In April, Claro Brasil also began testing in the city, in the region of Nova Russia. TIM did not say when the technology would be offered fully and definitively, nor the amount invested in the city for its implementation.

Grupo Novator the new owner of Nextel Chile  will go to market under the new name WOM starting next month. The CEO of the company will be Chris Bannister, as was announced five months ago when the group purchased the Chilean operator from NII Holdings.

The company reported that “the great challenge will be to revolutionize the industry, delivering to Chileans what they really want. We know that they are frustrated with the current operators, that is why we will surprise them with our service, quality, speech and personality.”

Digicel has completed its acquisition of Bermuda Telephone Company (BTC). But the telecommunications company is keeping the details of the deal, including how much it paid for BTC, close to its chest.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Digicel Bermuda CEO Robin Seale said the buyout would put the company in a better position to serve its customers.

“With the acquisition now complete, we are even further committed to delivering the best value, service and network on the island while expanding our suite of products and services to offer a larger portfolio to our customers,” he said.

“Digicel is already heavily investing in increasing the capacity of our service and the acquisition of BTC will provide the framework to broaden that even further; growing our business, creating more jobs and investing in the future of Bermuda’s communications industry.”

Digicel had announced its intention to acquire the local telephone company back in January, only six months after Canadian-led Barrie Holdings bought BTC from KeyTech for US$30 million.

Chief executive officer of the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda Robert Watson promised that it would “keep a close eye on it to see there is no predatory pricing”, given that there would be two dominant players in the Bermuda telecommunications market – Digicel and KeyTech Group, which has subsidiaries CableVision Bermuda and Logic and cellphone firm CellOne as an affiliate.

“We got these assurances from Digicel and we feel they are a good company to ensure a competitive, innovative choice for the people of Bermuda,” he told the Royal Gazette.