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To: elmatador who wrote (19350)	4/5/2002 11:13:08 AM
From: Eric L	Respond to of 34857

re: Argentina & Brazil Mike at Mobile Communications says: ... surely there are many European financiers concerned that what is happening to some operators in South America could be a sneak preview of future events closer to home. The causes of the debt problems may be radically different-currency devaluation as opposed to 3G devaluation-but the end results are the same; renegotiated loans and possible defaults or bankruptcies. In Brazil BCP, which is part owned by BellSouth, is renegotiating $1.6bn in debts having defaulted on a $375m payment in March. Americel, an operator controlled by Telecom Americas, is also in talks with its creditors about its debts of $250m. Meanwhile FT-owned Telecom Argentina has stopped payment on $3.2bn of debt, following Verizon's announcement that its Argentine wireless unit, CTI Holdings, defaulted on $1bn of debt after the peso's devaluation. >> Double Default in Argentina April 04, 2002 Buenos Aires, Argentina Global Wireless The telecommunications crisis worsened during the past week in Argentina, with the second- and fourth-largest operators now in default. Telecom Argentina and CTI Móvil were unable to pay their debts of US$3.25 billion and US$1 billion respectively. Telecom Argentina, owned jointly by France Télécom and Telecom Italia, informed the Buenos Aires stock market of it suspension of the payment of US$1.8 billion in financial debt that was due between this year and next, although it said it would continue paying the US$250 million in interest due this year. In a communiqué, the company stated it had to make the decision due to "the current macroeconomic situation in Argentina, the devaluation, the volatility of the peso, the decline of tariffs and the schedule defined by the government for discussions related to the adjustment of regulated tariffs." CTI Móvil, owned by Verizon Wireless and Grupo Clarín, also entered into default but went beyond Telecom and announced it would not be able to pay the capital or the interest of the total debt of US$ 1 billion. Simultaneously, its majority shareholder Verizon reduced its stake in CTI Móvil from 65 percent to 48 percent, which allowed the U.S.-based operator to take CTI Móvil out of its annual balance. The North American company gave the 17 percent to CTI Móvil employees. << - Eric -