America Movil to buy MiPhone for…US$70 million. And now the rumours and questions.

News AnalysisJamaica- America Movil, Latin America’s cell phone goliath with 137 million customers, a Fortune Global 500 status has agreed to buy Jamaica’s smallest cell company Oceanic Digital which operates under the MiPhone brand for a reported US$70million. The deal offered by the Carlos Slim-owned company is expected to be finalised in the fourth quarter. This was reported by Telegeopgraphy.com, a 30 year old Telecom research company with offices in USA and London.This news of MiPhone’s sale broke late August in Jamaica, but no local newspapers published figures. Oceanic Digital (MiPhone) is reported to have 200,000 subscribers in Jamaica, El Salvador and Dominical Republic, 50% of that customer base being in Jamaica. The five year old company was originally Centennial Communication and the first holder of the Jamaican mobile licence but was bought out by Oceanic which gave it full control of the mobile company. Since then the company has launched push to talk, mobile tv technologies in addition to having companies like Megaphone to use their network to deliver VOIP based international calls.The Questions and RumoursThis sale of MiPhone to the billionaire’s company has raised a few questions and started a few rumours. Does America Movil really intend to become a dominant player in the hot Jamaican mobile market as it’s used to being on the countries the company operates, or is it shoring up subscriber numbers in its strong hold El Salvador and Dominican Republic in a strategic bid to hold off its most formidable competitor, Spain‘s Telefonica. This move also are also rumors that Mr. Slim’s foray into the Jamaican market and shoring up the El Salvador and Dominican Republic subscribers is also a direct face off to Digicel which opened in El Salvador in April this year, a market where America Movil has a reported 1.4 million subscribers. El Salvador has a population for 7 million with a 33% mobile penetration, lots of room to grow. A often heard industry rumour is that MiPhone is planning a shake up in the Jamaican mobile market with an offer of free cell phones and drastically cut calling rates. Well, he certainly has the money, Carlos Slim is double digit billionair. But while Rumours are always delicious, let’s wait for the reality to unfold.