America Movil is considering further acquisitions in Eastern Europe’s fixed-line market.
In an interview with Reuters last week, the Mexican telco giant’s CFO Carlos Garcia Moreno said there is a need in Eastern Europe for more fixed network investment to support the growth of mobile data traffic.
"In this process there are acquisitions that can be made," he said in the report.
America Movil is present in Eastern Europe via its Telekom Austria subsidiary, which has been bulking up recently with fixed-line acquisitions.
In late July, Telekom Austria’s Bulgarian unit Mobiltel agreed to buy local cableco Blizoo for an undisclosed fee. This came a year after Telekom Austria acquired Blizoo’s Macedonian arm.
In June, Telekom Austria also acquired Amis, a triple-play provider with operations in Slovenia and Croatia.
In the second quarter, America Movil’s European business accounted for 8.3% of the company’s total revenue. Garcia Moreno told Reuters that it is "feasible" that it could account for 15% by 2020.
Growth in Eastern Europe could help to alleviate increasing pressure in America Movil’s home market, where new telco regulator Ifetel, or IFT, has introduced new rules to curb its dominance.
AT&T’s entry into Mexico has also ramped up the pressure; the telco has already scrapped roaming fees between Mexico and the U.S., prompting America Movil to do likewise.
America Movil introduced its Sin Fronteras tariff for postpaid customers in July, enabling customers to make calls to, from, and within the U.S. at domestic rates.
Mexican press reports over the weekend said America Movil has extended the offer to prepaid customers too.
