Brazilian mobile telecom investors are outlining their CAPEX for 2003. Vivo, the
joint venture between Telefonica Moviles and Portugal Telecom plans to invest
BRR 1 billion in supply contracts. The company is looking at contracting two or
three suppliers between Ericsson, Lucent, Nortel and Motorola by the end of June
2003. These contracts, amounting to BRR 500 million, will be invested in expanding
coverage, subcontracting network maintenance as well as increasing the high-speed
connections of subsidiaries TCO and CRT. The other BRR 500 million will be used
for billing technology, maintenance systems and modernising call centres.
Vivo forecasts that the mobile market in Brazil will grow 18% in 2003 but that
market saturation should occur in two or three years. To insure revenue generation,
Vivo is aiming at boosting its data transmission services. During 2003 the goal
is to double revenue in this segment to BRR 90 million. Part of the new contracts
includes increasing the coverage of 1X technology and offering location services
using GPS technology.
Telecom Americas, controlled by Mexico's America Movil, has already signed
USD 500 million to set up its GSM infrastructure. Ericsson and Siemens will
hold 80% of the contract with the rest in the hands of Alcatel. Company officials
did not reveal specific values but admitted that America Movil participated
directly in the negotiations.
EMC tracks the activities of the leading 24 cellular investors for regional
and global strategies. The June edition has just been published, for more information
visit:
http://www.emc-database.com/redir.nsf/index/WCI?OpenDocument&source=dz122a
