Venezuela's CANTV sees strong mobile growth

By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - CANTV TDVd.CRVNT.N, Venezuela's No. 1 telecommunications company, registered 8 percent mobile phone subscriber growth in the first quarter as its businesses expanded at the top end of forecasts, the company's president said on Thursday.

Gustavo Roosen told Reuters that CANTV, whose main shareholder is U.S.-based Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), had registered 400,000 new mobile telephone clients in the first three months of 2006 after reaching 5.1 million last year.

"The mobile telephone sector continues to grow in an important way and we are looking at growth of no less than 20 percent this year," Roosen said in an interview at his Caracas office as part of the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit.

CANTV's American Depository Shares closed Thursday 21 cents higher at $21.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, is enjoying strong economic growth as it benefits from soaring world crude prices and high government spending. Officials expect the gross domestic product to grow at least 5 percent this year.

The country's telecommunications sector is also seeing strong growth and tougher competition after Spain's Telefonica Moviles (TEF.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) purchased the country's largest mobile phone provider, now called Movistar, from BellSouth Corp. BLS.N.

The executive said he believed CANTV's mobile unit was now in a "technical draw" with Movistar for number of clients and the company expects to invest $260 million of its total $500 million capital expenditure in the mobile sector this year.

Total mobile subscribers in Venezuela should reach around 15 million to 16 million by the end of 2006 from 11.8 million last year, he said.  Continued...