Friday, November 05, 2004

What I think the regulator should do with CANTV and Digitel Before the Chavez Government states its position on the CANTV purchase of Digitel, let me state mine, to make sure some of the fanatics don't accuse me of always taking an anti-Chavez position.Very simply, I would not allow the transaction as proposed. In a country with 9 million cell phones, more than one in every three Venezuelans has a cell phone, it can not be good for the consumer to eliminate one competitor. This is what Government's are for, to regulate the economy, not to participate in it. They should stop it. The only solution I see is for CANTV to sell Movilnet. If CANTV sells its residential telephony to the Government as a way to allow the transaction, I would also disagree with it. Competition is good, as simple as that. 9:21:42 PM    comment []

CANTV to buy Digitel, why? Venezuela's largest telecom operator CANTV has just announced an agreemnet to purchase Digitel, the country's third largest cellular operator for US$ 450 million from Teelecom Italia. CANTV is currently the second largest operator via its Movilnet subsidiary with close to three million subscribers. Digitel had around one million subscribers. As long as the regulators approve the transaction. Will CANTV now turn around and sell Movilnet with three million CDMA subscribers to America Moviles to allow the regulators to approve the transaction? Or will it sell its fixed line operations to the Government? Stay tuned... The company also announced a dividend of 43 cents (US) per ADR, which will be paid at the official exchange rate, in another perverse act of discrimination of local investors. Locals will get the bolivars... 8:05:12 PM    comment []

Lost in the shuffle today was the news that the Penal Hall of the Venezuelan Supreme Court decided against reconsidering the sentence that freed the Puente El Llaguno gunmen. Even I have to agree with prosecutor Danilo Anderson who complained that this leaves eight metropolitan police members still in jail. Members of the Supreme Court are accusing each other of manipulating the case. Can there be worse news than this… Of course there can be, famous burping General Acosta Carles who has shown his disdain for the law and democracy was proclaimed today as Carabobo Governor…poor Carabobo…poor Venezuela…and then… There is the CNE Director Jorge Rodriguez who gave a most biased statement tonight at the proclamation of Juan Barreto as Mayor of the Metropolitan area. Rodriguez said: "The political panorama is now clear, I had to be here, and it is my pleasure. It is you who support democracy. This new democracy that has received so many aggressions. This new democracy that has resisted all of the attacks that it has been subjected to. A new democracy that expressed itself on August 15th. and October 31st. with elections that were absolutely transparent"…yeah! yeah! yeah! 12:38:47 AM    comment []