Iusacell sees 1X expansion in June - Mexico
latintrade.com
April 03, 2003 (BNamericas.com) - Mexican mobile operator Iusacell (NYSE: CEL) expects to start increasing coverage of its CDMA 1X network in Mexico City in June, Iusacell corporate marketing manager Fernando Zamarrita told BNamericas.
The company launched the 1X network on January 23 and originally estimated that it could grow to cover 12 cities by year-end, serving about 10,000 clients, but those figures are subject to modification depending on demand, Zamarrita said.
As yet Iusacell's 1X infrastructure is still in a test phase and the company is concentrating on running demonstrations to educate potential users, the executive said, adding that Iusacell prefers to treat the 1X network as an extension of its existing network, that clients will use from time to time depending on their data transmission needs.
For general growth of operations Iusacell is banking on legislation to expand the calling party pays (CPP) billing system to include domestic long distance calls, and a major goal for this year is to reach an SMS interoperability agreement with dominant operator Telcel, Zamarrita said.
Iusacell CFO Russell Olson was recently quoted as saying the company should complete its debt restructuring negotiations in two months. At an operating and services level, Zamarrita said the company continues to develop as normal, irrespective of the negotiations.
Olson also said the company would be able to pay a US$25mn interest payment on June 1 using cash flow, local press reported this week. Iusacell has total debt amounting to US$842mn.
The company operates in seven of Mexico's nine regions, including Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana, Acapulco, Puebla, Leon and Merida, and ended 2002 with a client base of about 2.1 million.
Iusacell is owned 37.2% by Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and 34.5% by Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD).
Source: Business News Americas (BNamericas.com) |
