Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Time short for operators to avoid Nextel interconnection

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 12:41:49 -0500

Time short for operators to avoid Nextel interconnection

March 14, 2003 8:17pm

Chilean mobile operators have until April 7 to ask the fair trade agency FNE to overrule
their obligation to
interconnect with trunking operator Nextel Chile, a Nextel source confirmed for
BNamericas.

Nextel submitted a request for interconnection
to fixed and mobile operators in January with a
view to running interconnection and operator
compatibility tests.

In parallel proceedings Nextel awaits a verdict
on its appeal against a November appeals
court ruling that cancelled its right to a digital
trunking concession. That ruling was the
mobile operators' last chance to attack
Nextel's concession directly after their case
was rejected by the telecoms regulator Subtel,
the comptroller and the anti-monopoly
commission (CRA).

While the company's definitive concession
technically hangs in the balance, rival
operators are legally obligated to honor
Nextel's provisional authorization and if they
don't meet the April 7 deadline they are liable for a fine issued by Subtel, the source
said, adding that
Nextel expects to have its concession affirmed.

Two mobile operators tried to gain exemption from the interconnection obligation in the
appeals court, but
their injunctions were rejected and the FNE is now their last resort.

So many bodies have a say in Chile's telecoms market (Subtel, CRA etc.) that any attempt
to enforce a
sanction can be challenged via another authority, which is why this issue has already
dragged on for two
years, Pyramid research analyst Carlos Rodriguez told BNamericas.

"It's hard to say at which point there will be no more uncertainty," Rodriguez added.

Nextel already offers analog trunking service to some 7,000 users in the regions covering
the capital
Santiago and second largest port Valparaiso, and has plans to launch digital services
through subsidiaries
Centennial and Multikom.

Parent company NII Holdings - which also has operations in Argentina, Peru, Brazil and
Mexico - has
invested US$30mn in Nextel Chile.

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