MTN to target Mexico

By Gugulakhe Lourie

JOHANNESBURG

July 21: The South African mobile operator MTN Group may target Mexico’s America Movil and other operators in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan in its bid to become a global player, analysts said on Monday.

On Friday, MTN called off talks with India’s Reliance Communications, aimed at creating a top-10 global telecom group, saying they could not reach a deal. One analyst said MTN could look at America Movil, the largest mobile phone operator in Latin America, with operations in 16 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and the US.

"We expect that Latin America could be the next big area of interest for MTN," Mr Lindsey McDonald, ICT industry analyst at consultancy, Frost & Sullivan, said.

"Its market characteristics are similar to those of Africa, the mobile market has demonstrated robust growth, and there are operators present there that could be good targets or partners going forward. America Movil is one possibility."

Nozipho January-Bardill, MTN spokeswoman, said any link to America Movil was pure speculation.

— Reuters