Novator Partners to invest $1 bln in Colombia telecoms infrastructure
06/11/2020 15:27
BOGOTA, Nov 6 (Reuters) - London-based investment firm
Novator Partners will invest $1 billion in infrastructure
projects in Colombia over the next five years following the
launch of its WOM mobile telephone brand in the Andean country,
it said late on Thursday.
The launch of the new mobile phone brand comes four months
after Novator Partners acquired a majority stake in
telecommunications company Avantel AVAN.BO for an undisclosed
amount.
The sum will be used to install more than 8,000 antennas and
to build WOM's network, which will bring connectivity to 675
rural location, Novator said in a statement. The investment is
expected to create 2,500 direct jobs and more than 5,000
indirect jobs.
"Colombia's mobile telephone sector is static; the
concentration of the mobile market has delayed key investments
for the development of the country," Chris Bannister, CEO of WOM
in Colombia, said in a statement on Thursday.
"The country needs a fourth operator to push change and
improve access to connectivity for all Colombians," he added.
WOM will compete in a market of 66.4 million mobile phone
subscribers dominated by Claro, which is followed by Movistar
and Tigo TIGOsdb.ST .
WOM already has a presence in Iceland, Poland and Chile.
Following a bandwidth auction in Colombia, Novator Partners
won 20 Mega Hertz (MHz) in the 700 MHz spectrum and 30 MHz in
the 2,500 MHz spectrum in December.
However, in January the company said it would rescind 10 MHz
in the 2,500 MHz spectrum, for which it was fined 42 billion
pesos ($11.6 million).
($1 = 3,763.82 Colombian pesos)
(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra,
Writing by Oliver Griffin; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
((Oliver.Griffin@thomsonreuters.com; +57 304-583-8931;))