Peru ICT: Entel Looks to Buy Nextel Unit

BY STAFF REPORT

Chilean wireless carrier Entel is reportedly planning to purchase the Peruvian unit of Nextel, known locally as Nextel Peru.

According to a report in a Spanish news paper Diario Financiero, Entel has already made an offer to acquire Nextel Peru and negotiating the price.

Entel has already had a strong presence in Peru, and its local subsidiary is called Americatel Peru, which provides voice, data and Internet services to businesses in Lima. The paper says Entel’s subsidiary reported 10 percent growth in revenue for the fiscal 2011.

Nextel Peru was the first telecom carrier to offer 3G services in Peru. Given the report, the Nextel subsidiary has, however, failed to sign up more customers for its service.

Expansion of sales channels and the high cost paid for deploying the network later turned out to be a drain on the company’s balance sheet, the paper added.

America Movil and Movistar, who are expanding vigorously in the region, have taken away a large number of Nextel’s consumers.

According to the paper, executives from Entel have already made several trips to Peru to negotiate with their counterparts in Nextel Peru.

Entel is popular across Latin America for its high-speed broadband service.