Millicom studies ETB stake acquisition

Mobile Operator Millicom International Cellular, which operates in Colombia under the brand name Tigo, is evaluating whether to bid for a controlling stake in ETB, said Gloria Ortega, president of Tigo Colombia in an interview with local newspaper La Republica. At the beginning of July, Colombian state-owned operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota started looking for a strategic partner to support its investment plans, mainly focused on the broadband business. However, following a lawsuit from the workers union, a Colombian court temporarily suspended ETB's search for a strategic investor. Ortega also revealed Tigo is in talks with satellite pay-TV provider DirecTV, to launch bundled services on the local market. "DirecTV has something that perhaps interests the customer (not us) and Tigo has something that may also interest the user: hence partnerships spring up, or what I like to call shared opportunities", said Ortega.