As part of an overseas asset disposal programme that predates its misfiring attempt to shed all of its telecom assets and concentrate on ‘media’ activities, Telecom Italia looks set to shed its Brazilian wireless unit. TIM Brasil claims to operate the only nationwide GSM network in the country, boasting 21.5 GSM customers

Any sell-off, which could yield up to €10bn, is deemed likely to attract América Móvil, the Latin American cellphone group led by Carlos Slim. América Móvil currently owns ‘Claro’, which has roughly 20m subscribers in Brazil. América Móvil’s main rival in the region, Telefónica of Spain, currently has more than 28m customers for its Brazilian business.

If TI presses ahead with the sale, it is hard to see any bidders coming from anyone other than this pair. América Móvil probably has the greater appetite for the unit, but that alone may prompt Telefónica to act. What Brazil’s regulators will make of it is another matter.
Jim Chalmers