A new chapter for the Mexican ‘musketeer’
OXIO Inc. and Newfoundland Capital Management have just announced that they signed an agreement to purchase Movistar México from Telefónica S.A. The operation, of course, still needs approval from regulators. They say that with this they seek to open a new line of growth in the troubled local market.
The curious thing here is not only the change of ownership, but what they promise not to change. If the transaction is completed, the Movistar brand and its management team would remain as is. The new investors swear that users will not notice interruptions during the transfer. It sounds good, but one always wonders: is it a gesture of respect for the client or a strategy to not scare away the current base while they are cooking something behind?
“Users will not experience interruptions in service during the transition,” the new investors assured.
The true transformation is in the cloud
The project is not limited to a simple change in shareholders. The master plan is to migrate Movistar’s entire network and operations to OXIO’s “Telecom-as-a-Service” platform. Translation: they want to bring everything to a cloud-native architecture.
The promise is a more agile and digital model, with data analysis and artificial intelligence tools to optimize processes. It sounds like textbook corporate jargon, but deep down it is the old recipe: modernize to reduce costs and look for new sources of income.
Why Mexico? For investors, the answer is obvious: market size, digital growth and its position as a key node in North America. The growing demand for mobile services for fintech, e-commerce and entertainment makes the country an irresistible target.
The question that remains, as always, is whether this acquisition will really be a boost to competition and quality of service, or simply another financial move on the telecommunications board. Time, and user bills, will tell.
