América Móvil will continue buying telecommunications assets after its Desktop acquisition, CEO Daniel Hajj said, without naming priority countries or regions for further M&A moves. Hajj also described ongoing discussions with Starlink on a possible signaling service between low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites and mobile phones, using the direct-to-device (D2D) concept.
Alongside the growth narrative, Hajj said there is no forecast for higher prices in Brazil for mobile telephony, broadband and pay TV, even as the company faces higher memory-chip costs and is increasing its chip inventory.
M&A pace after Desktop: Latin America and Eastern Europe on the radar
Hajj confirmed the company’s broader strategy to keep acquiring telecom assets, framing it as a need to balance leverage with opportunity. He said there are “more opportunities” for América Latina and Eastern Europe and that these deals are expected to put the group in stronger positions to grow “more and more quickly.”
When asked about where those moves would land, Hajj declined to indicate which countries or regions are priorities. He did flag ongoing consideration of a wider set of assets, including a negotiation to acquire Azteca.
In the article’s description of the Azteca track, the acquisition would involve a fiber infrastructure provider in Colombia.
Pricing and inputs: no Brazil price increase, inventory up
Hajj said there is no forecast for higher prices in Brazil for mobile telephony, broadband and pay TV services. He also pointed to cost pressure from increased demand globally for memory chips and said América Móvil decided to increase its inventory of the component.
Portability focus via NuCel, and where the numbers sit
On mobile number portability, Hajj said NuCel—Nubank’s mobile service that uses Claro’s network—has contributed to portability gains. He said Claro has been attracting users from other telcos for about three or four years, and that with NuCel, portability is growing while NuCel is performing well, leading América Móvil to expect further portability growth in Brazil.
The article reports that Claro had a net gain of 900,000 lines ported to its mobile service over the last 12 months, while also saying Claro does not detail NuCel’s share in those portability movements.
Starlink D2D discussions and Q1 financials
Hajj said América Móvil is in discussions with Starlink Internet Solutions regarding a possible partnership for a signaling service between LEO satellites and mobile phones, a service also known as direct-to-device (D2D). The article describes Starlink as a satellite connectivity operator of SpaceX, and Hajj said Starlink’s new satellite constellation focused on D2D is expected to be launched in 2027. He also said the company is open to doing something with Starlink and is discussing the opportunities it may have.
In parallel, the article reported América Móvil’s first-quarter performance: revenues rose 2.1% year over year to 237 billion Mexican pesos (about US$13.6 billion), mobile service revenue grew 6.4% year over year, and the fixed operations segment (telephony, broadband and pay TV) increased 1.7% year over year. EBITDA reached 95 billion Mexican pesos, up 3.8% year over year, while total net profit was 51 billion Mexican pesos, up 12.7% year over year.
The article further reported that América Móvil ended March with net debt (excluding leases) of 437 billion Mexican pesos and a leverage ratio of 1.41x.