Sources told El Economista that the company is interested in strengthening its position in the market as it already owns Chilean mobile operator WOM. The company is said to be planning on using Chile as its s a regional hub for potential further investment in the region having already spent $800 million since its launch in 2015 and a further $200 million in 2019 alone.
The news follows the revelation that month that Novator Partners had thrown its hat into the ring as a bidder in the Colombian spectrum auction. Novator Partners won 20MHz in the 700MHz band and 30MHz in the 2.5GHz band for a reported $891 million.
Additionally, Millicom (Tigo) was awarded 40Mhz of spectrum in the 700MHz band and Claro won 20MHz in the 700MHz band, and 30MHz in the 2.5GHz band.
Under the terms of its spectrum allocation, Novator Partners is obligated to deploy its new 700MHz networks in 670 Colombian locations within one year, while its peers, have up to five years to complete their deployments due to the size of their locations.
No official comment from Novator Partners or Telefónica has been given but comes following Telefónica’s announcement back in November, when the company confirmed its intention to spin-off of its businesses in Hispanoamérica. At the time, the company cited changing market conditions as one of the main reasons for the change in it operational model and that the business would now be managed as an autonomous unit with its own dedicated team.
But Novator Partners aren’t the only one’s eyeing up Telefónica’s assets, last week the company was rumoured to have received an offer of €10 billion for a 51% stake in its Latin American businesses. According to El Mundo the deal came from Colombia from a group of billionaire entrepreneurs across the region.
