*Telefonica CDMA in Guatemala*
Telefonica to Invest $400 Million in Guatemala, Create
3,000 Jobs in Three Years
-- Telefonica Started Providing Long-Distance Services on July 15 and Has Already
Gained a 19% Market Share.
-- Telefonica's Digital Mobile Phone Service will be Launched in September,
Together With Fixed-Line Telephone, Internet and Data Transmission Services.
GUATEMALA CITY, July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Telefonica Centroamerica Guatemala
plans to invest close to $400 million and create approximately 3,000 jobs in the
country over the next three years, Antonio Viana-Baptista, chief executive officer of
Telefonica Internacional, told a news conference.
Viana-Baptista, on hand for the official launch of operations in Guatemala by
Spain's Telefonica Group (NYSE: TEF), said the company will offer coverage,
mainly through its digital mobile telephone service, to around 70% of the population
within a year's time. The service will be offered in the 1900 MHz frequency band
(PCS) using latest generation CDMA technology.
Telefonica Centroamerica Guatemala, formed last May, began providing
long-distance telephone service on July 15, with price discounts of up to 37%. In
less than two weeks, it has gained a 19% market share. Starting in September, the
company will offer digital mobile telephone service for which it hopes to have more
than 40,000 customers before year-end.
Plans for Telefonica's Guatemalan subsidiary include the launch of fixed-line
telephone service, Internet access and data transmission for business clients, as
well as public payphones, by the last quarter of 1999. In addition, Telefonica and
TYCO of the U.S. have reached an agreement on submarine cable development
which will also benefit Guatemala's international telephone service, before the year
2001.
Telefonica's initial investment in Guatemala will come to approximately $140 million
in 1999 and rise to $400 million within three years. Telefonica Centroamerica
Guatemala will follow the model applied in El Salvador, where the Spanish
company's entry into the market brought a significant reduction in telephone rates
and a higher penetration of mobile lines.
Telefonica Centroamerica Guatemala, which will offer a full range of telecoms
services, was formed as the result of a strategy to create a global
telecommunications operator in Central America. The operator is a member of the
Telefonica Centroamerica group, which is 51%-owned by Telefonica Internacional,
the Latin American investment unit of the Telefonica Group. The remaining 49% is
held by Grupo Mesoamerica Telecom, an investment company formed by major
Central American business concerns.
Telefonica's strategy of entering new markets in Central America through second
operators has already proved successful. Telefonica El Salvador, the first subsidiary
created within the Telefonica Centroamerica group, was created in July, 1998 and
has already gained a market share of 33% in cellular telephony and of 40% in long
distance. It offers basic telephone service, as well as mobile, long distance and
data transmission services.
Telefonica, S.A. (1998 revenues: $20.377 billion) is the largest provider of
telecommunications services in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world.
Through affiliate companies in 17 countries, the Telefonica Group services a market
of more than 530 million potential customers. As of March, 1999, Telefonica owned
or managed 36.8 million fixed telephone lines, 12.3 million cellular phones and had
2.3 million pay television clients.
SOURCE Telefonica S.A.
/CONTACT: Edward Holland of Telefonica, +34-91-584-0899/
/Web site: telefonica.es |
