Born to be Wireless

When Telefonica bought into Telecom Italia last month it reportedly triggered talk that Telefonica could be angling for consolidation in the Brazilian mobile market, which has now been downplayed by the operator. “Medium term, cooperation is the right route forward ... I don’t see the likelihood of a merger in the medium term, although you should rule nothing out or in,” said Peter Erskine, the chairman and chief executive of Telefonica O2 Europe.

Telecom Italia’s Brazilian subsidiary TIM Brazil has about 25.8 percent of the Brazilian market, just behind Vivo which is jointly owned by Telefonica and Portugal Telecom. Telefonica is more interested in gaining full control of Vivo, the performance of which has sagged recently. And PT executives “expressed anger after Telefonica backed a rival offer to take over the Portuguese firm”, so that relationship may be a bit frosty.