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News from Latin America
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May 19, 2000: 3:33 p.m. ET
Mobile telephone expansion in Argentina and Chile
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The telecom sector got a boost today with news that the mobile-phone industry in both Chile and Argentina would significantly expand in the next year. Delays in the sale of Chilean shares in Spain's BSCH bank, as well as expanded financing for a Buenos Aires-based health site rounded out today's news.
Unifon to invest $500 million in 2000
Argentine mobile telephone provider Unifon plans to invest $500 million in Argentina this year, Unifon general manager Luis Malvido said.
The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Argentina's largest telecom Telefonica de Argentina (TAR: Research, Estimates), controls 26 percent of the mobile-telephone market with 1.3 million subscribers, Malvido said, who predicted two million clients and $800 million in sales by year's end.
 Unifon recently completed the installation of a $50 million PCS network in the northern province of Cordoba. The network is based on TDMA technology operating within the 1900MHz band, with equipment supplied by Sweden's Ericsson. The company plans to have 1900 sites in place nationwide by December 2000.
Unifon also provides trunking services in the cities of Cordoba, Rosario, Santa Fe, Parana, Mendoza, Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires and will soon extend its service to other cities. It paid $335 million for three PCS licenses in a government auction in June 1999. By the year's end, Unifon will have invested $1.7 billion in Argentina since it started operations in 1996.
Source: BNamericas.com
BellSouth, StarMedia launch mobile portal
Chilean mobile operator BellSouth Chile and New York-based StarMedia Network (STRM: Research, Estimates) launched today the mobile-Internet portal mibellsouth.
The portal allows the more than 400,000 BellSouth users in Chile to receive Web content on their cellular phone displays.
BellSouth is providing the wireless technology while StarMedia will supply the content for the portal. The two companies will jointly promote mibellsouth through marketing and advertising efforts.
Mibellsouth mobile customers can access some 70 local information categories, and customize their portal to receive selected topics daily on their BellSouth cellular phone. The mobile portal also features community services such as chat, guide and search, as well as translation services into six languages. Personalized tools include Content (Mi Info), Paging (Mi beeper) and e-mail (Mi Mail). E-commerce applications will be added to the portal in the near future.
BellSouth Chile is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based telecom BellSouth (BLS: Research, Estimates).
Source: BNamericas.com
BSCH problems delay Santiago sale
The problems affecting Spain's BSCH (STD: Research, Estimates) will delay the Chilean Central Bank's sale of its 35.5 percent stake in Banco Santiago (SAN: Research, Estimates), which is 43.5 percent owned by BSCH, according to an analyst at local credit rating agency Feller Rate.
Central Bank president Carlos Massad said recently that now is not the right time to sell the Santiago stake, but did not explain why.
 On May 15, the two-year period commenced in which the Central Bank has the right to sell its stake to BSCH at the price of 11 Chilean pesos (2 U.S. cents) per share -- or to any third party that betters BSCH's 11 peso per share offer.
The Central Bank is likely to wait for final approval of a tender offer bill and the outcome of a request from Chilean antitrust authorities to end BSCH's dominant position in the Chilean financial system, the analyst said. The Banking Superintendence of Chile has repeatedly requested that BSCH reduce its 28 percent loan market share.
"There are too many issues circulating around BSCH that could affect the price of the Santiago stake," the analyst said. "I do not see any risk but there is too much uncertainty."
The Central Bank is unlikely to receive a premium for its stake because it's a minority post and BSCH would remain as the controlling shareholder, the analyst added.
Source: BNamericas.com
Salutia closes $16 million in financing
Buenos Aires, Argentina-based online health solutions provider Salutia has secured $16 million second-round funding from a group led by Merrill Lynch Global Emerging Markets Partners, the company announced Thursday.
Other investors included Newbridge Andean Partners/Newbridge Latin America, Web Health Services, UBS Capital Americas III, LP and SLI.
The funding will be used to build a network of online solutions for consumers, physicians and the health industry in general, Salutia COO Gerardo Waisburg said. The company will focus mainly on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, the United States and Spain, but will also consider expansion into Colombia and Venezuela, he added.
While Salutia will continue to invest in its consumer portal Salutia and its physicians' community SalutiaMed, the company will also develop new products, such as "disease management solutions," Waisburg said. These are online communities where patients with chronic or prolonged illnesses are able to access specific information and products, as well as interact with specialist doctors, he explained.
Part of the capital will also be directed toward new technologies, such as Wireless Application Protocol, Waisburg added.
Salutia launched in December last year with $4 million seed funding. In February, Salutia merged with U.S.-based health portal MedicoUno.
Source: BNamericas.com
For more BNamericas.com stories, click here 
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