PT CEO: Vivo to Make GSM Available Before Xmas

Brazil's largest mobile phone operator Vivo is to make GSM technology available before Christmas, Portugal Telecom's CEO Henrique Granadeiro was reported as saying by local financial magazine InfoMoney.

The GSM migration will allow Vivo to supply both CDMA and GSM technologies, according to Granadeiro who said that it will position the unit for the imminent arrival of 3G services.

Such a project could account for almost 2bn euros (US$2.51bn) of the 9bn-euro global investment budget planned for 2006-2009 by Vivo co-owner Telefónica, according to a May report by US investment bank Merrill Lynch.

Others see the switch as less costly. Vivo, Brazil's sole CDMA network user, is likely to invest some 1.4bn reais in the new GSM network, an analyst at Rio de Janeiro-based investment bank Pactual was reported as saying.

Vivo's owners, Telefónica Móviles and Portugal Telecom, also recently established a group of top tier executives to restructure Vivo's business strategy and halt the company's sliding market share.

BNAmericas.com"

Posted to the site on 3rd July 2006