João Pessoa - Paraíba Paradise

Foreign firms sink teeth into Brazil mobile market

epicurean — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:30:42 +0000

Multi-billion-dollar deals by Spain’s Telefonica and Portugal Telecom in Brazil’s booming cellphone market this week underline the growth potential of Latin America’s biggest economy, analysts say.

They also point the way to perhaps further consolidation in a country where 185 million people out of a population of 193 million have mobile telephones.

Wednesday’s announcement that Telefonica was taking control of Brazil’s biggest cell network operator Vivo by buying out Portugal Telecom’s stake in the investment vehicle they shared for 9.7 billion dollars started the ball rolling.

PT immediately announced it was using around half that bonanza to buy a 22 percent stake in Oi, the fourth-rated operator and the only one controlled by Brazilian interests.

The moves gave Telefonica — which also has a stake in third-ranked Tim, controlled by Telecom Italia — boosted access to Brazil‘s flourishing market, PT a continued Brazilian revenue stream, and Oi badly needed capital to write down debt.

The second-biggest network, Claro, is run by Mexico’s America Movil.

“The big change sweeping through Brazil’s telecommunications sector with Telefonica’s aggressive offer has much to do with the future of seeing the Internet and television on cellular telephones,” said Manfred Back, a business administration professor at University of Industrial Engineering.

“This fight between big companies is affecting the market, it’s a battle not over selling mobile telephones but over selling Internet packets for telephones and, in the future, television. The market is huge.”

Underlining that point was the fact that there were just 65 million Internet users in Brazil — a market that is set to explode when access is made easier through web-ready cellphone handsets.

Brazil is keen to keep a piece of the action. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would do his best to ensure Oi remained a Brazilian-controlled company despite PT’s big stake.

“One thing I guarantee as long as I am president is that this company will continue to be a national company. That’s what it was created for,” said Lula, who steps down at the end of this year after serving the maximum allowed two terms.

Camila Saito, an economic analyst at consulting firm Tenedencia, said the moves by Telefonica and PT were “a crucial step” toward consolidating Brazil‘s telecoms sector, including fixed-line and cellular outfits.

While that was giving cheer to corporate investors, Brazilian cellphone users may yet rue the narrowing competition.

Cellphone service quality is often poor in the country, and comes at hefty subscription charges.

Call costs per minute are the second-highest in the world after South Africa, according to the European consulting firm Bernstein Research.

Likewise, Internet access is extraordinarily pricey for speeds just a fraction of those seen in Europe or Asia.

Analysts fear that a concentration of operators could make the situation worse for consumers.

“All of us who use telecommunication services — Internet, cellphones — know that the services are lousy, that they are not getting any better and that they are really expensive,” an editorialist in the Globo newspaper, Miriam Leitao, said.

Back agreed, saying: “This titanic fight is for market position, but I have doubts that the consumer will benefit.”

By Anella Reta

http://www.google.com

Brazil to promote FTA between Mercosur, SICA

epicurean — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:30:08 +0000

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he will promote negotiations on a free trade agreement between the Central American Integration System (SICA) and Mercosur, where he will take the interim presidency.

“A comprehensive trading agreement between Mercosur and the SICA would be essential as Nicaraguan exports to Brazil need to be boosted in order to balance the exchange,” said Lula.

Mercosur, or the Common Market of the South, is a bloc composed of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

In a speech delivered during the luncheon meeting with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Lula stressed that the agreement would facilitate the trade balance between two countries.

Brazil exported 33.3 million dollars worth of goods to the Central American countries in 2009 while Nicaragua’s exports to South America totaled only 354,000 dollars.

At the end of his speech, Lula welcomed Nicaragua’s early participation in the Latin American Integration Association.

Source: Xinhua

http://english.people.com.cn

Lula and Ortega Discuss Honduras. They Still Don’t Recognize Lobo as President

epicurean — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:30:16 +0000

Manuel Zelaya

The presidents of Brazil and Nicaragua, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Daniel Ortega, had a series of meetings to discuss the question of Honduras and that country’s reintegration into the Organization of American States.

In June 2009, a coup in Honduras supported by local military authorities, the Congress and the Supreme Court, removed the democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya from office.

A de-facto regime was installed headed by the president of the Congress Roberto Micheletti. Then, in November 2009, regularly scheduled elections took place and a new president Porfirio Lobo was elected.

However, a number of Latin American nations never recognized the de facto regime or the election – among them Brazil and Nicaragua.

At this time, more than a year after the coup, the main sticking points are the status of Manuel Zelaya and his supporters, along with questions regarding the independence of the different branches of government and human rights in Honduras. In March, three journalists involved in civil rights investigations were murdered.

Meanwhile, president Lobo has been visiting Latin American countries seeking support for his administration. On July 21, the group known as Central American Integration System, which has seven members, voted 6 to 1 to reinstate Honduras in the OAS.

The only vote against was Nicaragua (voted for: Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama). Within the next few days a special commission at the OAS will take up the matter, followed by a full OAS vote. It is expected that Lobo will get 22 of the 33 votes.

ABr

Written by Renata Giraldi

http://www.brazzilmag.com

Silva: FIFA will be ‘surprised’ with preparations

epicurean — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:30:28 +0000

Brazil's Sports Minister Orlando Silva

Brazil’s sports minister defended the preparations for the 2014 World Cup on Wednesday, saying those criticizing them are underestimating their current state and that some of the delays were due to FIFA being slow in approving plans.

Orlando Silva conceded during a conference call that there are no plans yet to build the Sao Paulo stadium scheduled to stage the opening ceremony, but said he has been reassured by local officials that a proposal is due within days.

FIFA has previously criticized Brazil’s readiness, saying the country is behind schedule in several areas, including stadium renovation and infrastructure.

“These are the opinions of those who ignore the reality of the country,” Silva said, adding that FIFA will soon “see the reality close up. They will be surprised with the preparations for the World Cup.

“FIFA will have to do its part. Because projects for the stadiums were approved only this May, and you could not start work on the stadiums without the projects having been approved.”

In May, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke was fiercely critical of preparations.

“I got a report on the status quo of the Brazilian stadiums. I have to say it is not very nice,” Valcke said then. “There are a number (of stadiums) with red lights already, which is amazing. It is amazing how Brazil is already late … I am talking about a number of stadiums.”

Brazilian officials have previously acknowledged they have to pick up the pace. A recent report by a government watchdog outlined the delays and warned that construction in some key areas, such as airports, may not be completed in time.

However, Silva said the lack of progress in building a stadium in Sao Paulo — Latin America’s largest city—is the biggest hurdle.

“Sao Paulo is the only bottleneck in preparing for 2014 World Cup because the other 11 cities are preparing at a very good pace,” he said.

Sao Paulo’s Morumbi stadium was dropped from the original project earlier this year after FIFA said there were not enough financial guarantees for its renovation. Since then, officials have struggled to find an alternative that would keep Sao Paulo as one of the 12 host cities.

There was a proposal to build a completely new stadium, which could later be used by Corinthians, but city officials have said they would not use public funds to construct a new venue.

Silva said the Brazilian bank, BNDES, had opened a $2.7 billion line of financing for the renovation or construction of stadiums, with a credit limit of $226 million for each project.

Earlier this month, the Brazilian government said it would invest nearly $3 billion to renovate and expand airports, and guarantee about $400 million to upgrade ports—news that Silva highlighted as proving the country was on track in its preparations.

But Silva said plans have yet to be finalized for other major areas— primarily in security, a major concern for foreign visitors and what proved to be a bigger spending drain than expected for the organizers of this year’s World Cup in South Africa.

South African officials have agreed to provide a report of the positive and negative lessons learned from hosting the event, Silva said.

By BRADLEY BROOKS, Associated Press Writer

http://sports.yahoo.com

‘Murders for ratings’ Brazil TV host dies in hospital

epicurean — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:30:15 +0000

Wallace Souza had said the accusations were an attempt to smear him

A Brazilian TV host accused of ordering killings to boost his crime show’s ratings has died, leaving his alleged involvement in the murders unexplained.

Wallace Souza died in a Sao Paulo hospital, where he had been treated for chronic liver disease since March.

Mr Souza, an ex-policeman and state deputy in Amazonas, turned himself in to the authorities last year.

Police said he ordered the killings and then alerted his own TV crews who would get to the scene first.

Mr Souza, who always denied the accusations, said they were an attempt by rivals to smear him and that there was no evidence to back them.

Authorities in Amazonas state said he ordered several killings in order to get rid of his rivals, while afterwards TV crews from his programme would mysteriously arrive at the crime scenes before the police, enabling them to secure graphic footage.

Police became suspicious about Mr Souza’s programme when a report showed the body of a suspected drug dealer burning in the woods long before police arrived.

http://www.bbc.co.uk

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