Telecom Italia [1] is reportedly in talks with both America Movil, the dominant operator in Latin America, and Spain's Telefonica for the sale of its Brazilian mobile-phone business, TIM Brasil Group. Telecom Italia has given its senior management a mandate to negotiate a possible deal. TIM, one of Brazil's healthiest operators, could be sold for $8 billion. Telefonica already owns 50 percent of Brazil's largest operator, Vivo, which has been struggling with poor subscriber additions and is embarking on a GSM overlay to its CDMA network. It may be put in a position where it can buy the remainder of that business or sell it.
To read more about the interest in TIM Brasil:
- check out this article [2] from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/telecom-italia-bowing-out-of-mobile-business/2006-09-11
[2] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116292827942915818.html?mod=telecommunications_primary_hs