Paraguay based Personal has launched an LTE network covering the capital city and surrounding areas. The company has committed US$20 million to the upgrade.
Tag Archives: Paraguay
Millicom Net Revenues Decline in Q4
Millicom International Cellular, Inc. – which operates in Latin America under the brand Tigo – reported a drop in fourth-quarter net revenues to USD 155 million from USD 188 million a year earlier. The profit margin is as a result of acquisitions in the region and investments in the data network. Still total revenues increased to USD 1.27 billion from USD 1.18 billion a year ago, helped by the acquisition of Cablevision in Paraguay. Revenues were up 6.4 percent year-on-year excluding currency effects and the Cablevision acquisition.
Millicom expects a smaller drop in the margin this year, and the figure should remain over 40 percent, while capex should peak at around 20 percent of sales. The company said it’s increasing its focus on costs and capex avoidance to adjust to the slowing growth in voice revenues.
The focus for 2013 will be on growing revenues from mobile data , m-payment services, cable-TV and the online activities with Rocket Internet.
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Millicom to Offer Mobile Money Transfer Services in Latin America
Western Union has signed an agreement with Millicom to introduce cross-border mobile money transfers in Latin America though Millicom’s Tigo branded mobile networks.
The first cross-border money transfer service under this agreement will be launched soon in Paraguay under the Giros Tigo brand (Tigo Cash). The service will be rolled out over time in other markets in Latin America.
Specific services under this agreement will vary by country, but over time, Tigo customers in most of Millicom’s Latin American markets will be able to receive money from Western Union customers directly into their mobile accounts. They will also be able to cash out transactions at any Tigo location offering the Giros Tigo facility.
Millicom offers Mobile Financial Services and in particular in-market money transfers in Paraguay, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Tanzania, Ghana and Rwanda and will extend its offering to more services and into more markets over time.
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Telecom Argentina net profits up by 33% in 2011
Telecom Argentina reports 2011 revenues of ARS 18.52 billion, up 26 percent from 2010, mainly fuelled by the mobile and broadband businesses.
Net income for the period exceeded ARS 2.42 billion, up by 33 percent from 2010. Mobile revenues rose 31 percent to ARS 13.18 billion, and fixed-line revenues increased 15 percent to ARS 5.34 billion. OIBDA improved 23 percent to ARS 5.61 billion.
Nucleo, the company’s mobile unit in Paragu ay, had 2.1 million customers at the end of 2011, up 14 percent from a year earlier.
The fixed division increased the number of lines in service 1 percent from a year earlier to 4.14 million, and the number of ADSL customers rose 12 percent year-on-year to 1.55 million users at end-December. ARPU climbed 7 percent year-on-year for fixed customers to ARS 45.7, while mobile ARPU grew 16 percent to ARS 51.4.
The operator’s mobile unit Personal gained 1.8 million new customers in the nine-month period, for a total of 18.1 million at the end of December.
Personal’s subsidiary in Paraguay, Nucleo, had almost 2.1 million customers at 31 December 2011, up 14 percent year-on-year. Prepaid and postpaid customers represented 83 percent and 17 percent, respectively
Cablevision denies talks to sell Paraguay assets
Cable operator Cablevision has denied recent press reports claiming its Paraguay unit is on sale, newspaper La Nacion reports, citing a company statement. Cablevision also said it plans to develop its operations in Paraguay.
The company currently offers cable TV and internet services on the local market. This week, company executives had a meeting with the Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo. At the meeting, Cablevision proposed that state-owned operator Copaco acquired its Paraguay unit, Reuters reported, citing secretary general of the presidency, Miguel Lopez Perito.
Lopez Perito also said that the Argentine media giant planed to exit Paraguay. In response, Cablevision said it “is seeking strategic partners to expand services in Paraguay”. In the statement, the company said that at the meeting with Paraguayan officials, the participants discussed on “matters related to the development of communications networks as well as licenses for provision of 4G mobile phone and mobile internet services, all with a view to expanding the company’s services across Paraguay to reach national coverage”. Cablevision has around 118,000 pay-TV subscribers in the Asuncion and Great Asuncion areas, as well as over 11,000 Fibertel broadband internet customers.
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Paraguay regulator to investigate Tigo CPC merger
The Paraguayan Congress has requested a review by telecoms regulator Conatel on the resolution that authorized the merger of Telefonica Celular del Paraguay (Telecel) and Compania Privada de Comunicaciones (CPC), Portal Paraguayo de Noticias reports. Telecel operates on the local market under the Tigo brand name.
Back in 2011 Conatel had approved the merger between the two companies, which also granted the use of the 900 MHz frequency band by Tigo. According to the initiative started by congresswoman Olga Ferreira de Lopez, Tigo was thus allowed to provide 4G mobile broadband services to the detriment of state-owned company Copaco.
Conatel will have to provide details on the procedure via which it gave the green light to the two operators’ merger, as well as make public the reason why the CPC maintained a valid licence for use of the 900 MHz spectrum, since the authorization was granted in 1997 but the spectrum had never been used until the merger.
Telecom Argentina net profit up 30% for FY2010
Telecom Argentina reported revenues of ARS 14.67 billion in 2010, up 20 percent year-on-year. Net income for the period reached ARS 1.82 billion, up by 30 percent versus 2009. Mobile revenues rose 24 percent to ARS 10.03 billion, while fixed-line revenues increased 12 percent to ARS 4.6 billion.
The operator’s mobile unit Personal gained 1.85 million new customers in the year, for a total of 16.3 million at the end of December. Of the total 70 percent are prepaid and 30 percent are postpaid.
Nucleo, the company’s mobile unit in Paraguay, had 1.87 million customers at the end of the period, up 4 percent from a year earlier. The fixed division increased the number of lines in service by 1 percent from a year earlier to 4.10 million, and the number of ADSL customers rose 14 percent year-on-year to 1.38 million users at end-December. ARPU for fixed customers climbed 5 percent in 2010 to ARS 43.
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