Tekelec Aims to Open Venezuela Office in Q1

US network applications company Tekelec expects to open an office in Venezuela in the first quarter of 2007, Tekelec's Brazil director Paulo Henrique Souza told BNamericas.

As part of Tekelec's short-term expansion plans, the company also opened an office in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires on December 5 and has representation in Colombia, he added.

The offices will handle strategic accounts, primarily for two of Latin America's telecoms giants - Mexico's América Móvil and Spanish-owned Telefónica.

Tekelec had intended to open the office in Buenos Aires in November 2006 and in Bogotá and Caracas by the start of 2007, Souza said in a previous interview with BNamericas last October.

BRAZIL

Tekelec's main operation in Latin America is in Brazil, which accounts for 15% of the company's regional revenues.

Souza previously told BNamericas he expected Tekelec to boost its revenues in Brazil by over 20% in 2006, but the executive would not confirm if that target had been met.

The Brazilian unit intends to grow by 25% in 2007, Souza said. The company expects contracts for helping operators deploy the necessary infrastructure to allow number portability to account for 30-40% of Brazilian revenues in 2007, he added.

Under telecoms regulator Anatel's schedule, operators are expected to start tests in December 2007, with the system fully rolled out by June 2008, according to Souza. However, operators are lobbying heavily and want a longer implementation time of 36 months rather than 18 months, he said.

Tekelec will also focus on deploying IP multimedia subsystems (IMS) and has planned a trial with a major national mobile phone company in March, Souza said without naming the operator.

"The unit will also provide SIP instant messaging services over the IMS platform," he said.

Tekelec's Brazilian unit had 35 customers in 2006 and hopes to secure new accounts with telcos such as Telefónica.

In Brazil, Tekelec has offices in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro."

Posted to the site on 3rd January 2007