Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa agreed Monday to renew the operating concession for the local unit of mobile phone giant America Movil, ending months of stalled negotiations, a top telecommunications official said.
Porta, the local subsidiary of Mexico City-based America Movil SAB, is willing to meet the price sought by Ecuador's government to continue operating in the country for 15 years, National Telecommunications Secretary Jamie Guerrero told reporters in Quito.
The decision came Monday after Correa met with America Movil CEO Daniel Hajj Aboumrad, Guerrero said. Ecuador's National Telecommunications Commission must still approve the decision.
Ecuador had been seeking US$480 million (euro310 million) for the concession, although Guerrero did not confirm Monday's price.
"This is the offer the state was waiting for," he said.
America Movil, controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, is the largest mobile phone services provider in Latin America, with 159.2 million subscribers in 16 countries.
Porta's concession was granted in the 1990s, and was due to expire on August 28, 2008. It controls about 70 percent of Ecuador's mobile phone market.
Correa in February said America Movil and its chief competitor, a local unit of Madrid-based Telefonica SA, should pay a combined US$700 million (euro453 million) for their concessions or leave the country.
Telefonica's Movistar unit, which controls 28 percent of the market, last month agreed to pay US$200 million (euro129 million) to operate in Ecuador through 2023.
Ecuador's telecommunications commission had called off talks with Porta on April 30, saying its offer of US$307 million (euro199 million) was too low.
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