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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: waitwatchwander who wrote (34023)	5/20/2003 2:57:45 PM
From: waitwatchwander	Respond to of 196584

Iusacell rules out national expansion for now - Mexico bnamericas.com Tuesday, May 20, 2003 10:09 (GMT-0400) US-based Verizon's Mexican mobile operator Iusacell (NYSE: CEL) has no plans at present to expand its CDMA2000 1xRTT network outside of Mexico City, Verizon Wireless International president Daniel Petri told BNamericas. Speaking Monday at the Mobile Americas 2003 conference in Miami, Petri said Iusacell introduced the network in late 2002 "to get the corporate market to pay attention to us." Network vendor Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) officially announced the deployment in late January, and Iusacell originally estimated it could grow to cover 12 cities by year-end, serving about 10,000 clients. Petri said Iusacell has "accomplished the immediate goal of catching attention" but cautioned the service is "not taking off dramatically" and not to expect expansion of the network to new markets. "We're still focused on phase one," he said. Accordingly, the company will continue building out its footprint in the capital. Iusacell's corporate marketing director Fernando Zamarripa recently told BNamericas the company would upgrade more base stations and switching centers in Mexico City this year. Iusacell is the only operator in Mexico to offer CDMA 1X mobile services. Market leader Telcel operates a GSM/GPRS network, while Telefonica Moviles Mexico is deploying the same. The other major competitor for the corporate segment in Mexico is digital trunking operator NII Holdings (Nasdaq: NIHD) (Nextel). Regarding the company's difficult financial situation, Petri said there is no news to offer. Iusacell has a significant debt load for its cash flow, but "there are lots of open questions" about "what kind of funding will be needed" to ease its financial structure, he said. On Monday Mexican financial daily El Financiero quoted Iusacell chairman and CEO Carlos Espinal, also of Verizon Wireless International, as saying majority shareholders will invest US$750mn in Iusacell if it succeeds in restructuring its US$822mn debt. Verizon is the company's largest shareholder, with a 37.2% stake, followed by the UK's Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) with 34.5%. Espinal said Iusacell and financial advisor Morgan Stanley are scheduled to publish a restructuring plan by the end of June, adding the company has drafted a five-year development plan to be put in place immediately after restructuring is complete. Speaking on the rest of Latin America, Petri said Verizon (NYSE: VZ) does not have any acquisition prospects at the moment, though it remains observant of the market and open to possibilities. The company's other core operations in the region are Puerto Rico Telephone Company, the Dominican Republic's Codetel and Venezuela's Cantv (NYSE: VNT). By David Gates BNamericas.com