Cuba allows users to register multiple mobile lines – Cuba

Telefónica sells 2.5% stake in China Unicom for US$850mn – Regional

Samsung, SAP partner on enterprise mobility solutions – Regional

Costa Rica spectrum auction delayed again – Costa Rica

Telefónica approves capital increase ahead of GVT takeover – Brazil, Regional
Cuba allows users to register multiple mobile lines – Cuba Cuba’s state-owned telco Etecsa issued a resolution allowing clients to register up to three mobile phone lines, according to state newspaper Granma.

Previously, each customer could register just one line.

Etecsa activated 40,000 new mobile lines in August and September, news site Telecompaper reported.

Nearly 300,000 lines have been switched on in the first nine months of the year.

Castro lifted restrictions on the ownership of mobile phones in 2008. The country is expected to reach 2mn mobile lines by the end of the year. Cuba has a population of 11mn.

Telefónica sells 2.5% stake in China Unicom for US$850mn – Regional Telefónica sold through its unit Telefónica Internacional a 2.5% stake in China Unicom for 6.6bn Hong Kong dollars (US$851mn), according to a statement sent to Spanish stock market regulator CNMV.

The sale is equivalent to roughly half of the 4.98% the company held in China Telecom.

In June 2012, Telefónica sold half of its stake in China Unicom for US$1.4bn, as part of a move to reduce debt.

In 2009, Telefónica entered a strategic alliance with China Unicom, whereby each party would purchase US$1bn of the other’s stock. In 2011, the two agreed to acquire US$500mn of each other’s stock in an effort to reinforce the previous strategic alliance.

Telefónica is in need of funds to finance recent acquisitions and consolidation. The company entered a 7bn-euro (US$9.3bn) deal in September to acquire Brazilian broadband provider GVT. Last week, the board of directors of Telefónica Brasil, the local subsidiary of Telefónica, approved a capital increase to finance the takeover.

At the beginning of October, Telefónica closed the purchase of German telco E-Plus, as part of the company’s ongoing strategy to strengthen its presence in core markets.

BNamericas will host its 3rd Mexican Telecom Summit in Mexico City, Mexico, on December 3-4. Click here to download the agenda.

Samsung, SAP partner on enterprise mobility solutions – Regional Samsung Electronics and German software giant SAP announced a partnership to deliver enterprise solutions on mobile devices and wearables, according a press release.

Among the innovations, the companies will collaborate to provide an integrated payment solution for business users that allows for a quicker access to revenue streams and better “real-time decision support” to executives and the workforce.

In the retail sector, the companies will design solutions to provide retail store operators with more immediate access to inventory, product information and customer data, enabling real-time one-on-one marketing at the points of sale.

SAP and Samsung will also co-develop mobile banking solutions for banking and insurance customers, among others.

BNamericas will host its 3rd Mexican Telecom Summit in Mexico City, Mexico, on December 3-4. Click here to download the agenda.

Costa Rica spectrum auction delayed again – Costa Rica Costa Rica’s previously announced auction of additional spectrum, namely 70MHZ in the 700MHz band and 40MHz in the 900MHz band, was delayed pending further studies and negotiations with the government, local newspaper El Financiero reported.

Use of the frequency – currently used by radio stations and mobile phones – would require cleaning the spectrum and migrating to other frequency bands.

“We simply can’t force licensed operators to migrate from frequency bands that were assigned to them,” said Francisco Troyo, spectrum manager with the science, technology and telecommunications ministry (Micitt)

New operators Claro and Movistar have expressed interest in an additional auction to expand their services.

Telefónica approves capital increase ahead of GVT takeover – Brazil, Regional The board of directors of Telefónica Brasil, the local subsidiary of telecoms giant Telefónica, approved a capital increase to finance the takeover of Vivendi’s GVT, according to a press release.

Telefónica and Vivendi entered a 7bn-euro (US$9.3bn) deal in September.

Telefónica will issue 500mn ordinary and preferred shares, taking its total capital stock to 1.85bn shares from 1.35bn.

The transaction, approved during a shareholders meeting held on Thursday, had already been announced in a filing with Brazil’s securities and exchange commission (CVM).

Telefónica said in October that the 4.7bn euros in cash called for in the transaction would be financed by a capital increase. The remaining balance will be paid in shares in Telefónica Brasil and Telefónica-owned shares in Telecom Italia.

The acquisition of GVT is still subject to regulatory approvals from Brazil’s antitrust body Cade and telecoms regulator Anatel. Telefónica expects the deal to be fully approved by the first half of 2015.
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