Millicom: Strong Niche Player

BY CHRONICLE STAFF

While Latin Americas telecom sector is increasingly dominated by Spain-based Telefonica and Mexico-based America Movil, which operate competing telecom operators throughout the region, there are also several other players benefiting from the fast-growing action. One of them is Swedish-owned Millicom, which operates six Latin American wireless operators under the Tigo brand. During the first quarter, it boosted Latin America revenue by 37.5 percent to $572 million.

"Were very happy [and] excited about the growth weve achieved," says Andrew Best, Millicoms London-based head of investor relations.

Although its still smaller than both America Movil and Telefonica, Millicom is growing much faster, a Latin Business Chronicle analysis shows. Millicoms revenue growth last year - 75.4 percent - compares with 11 percent for Telefonicas Latin America operations and 28.2 percent for America Movil. This year, the trend continues. Millicoms first quarter growth was nearly...

Keywords: Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay