Slim's America Movil eyes Serbian telecom stake

BELGRADE, MEXICO CITY: Mexico's America Movil, the cell phone company is eyeing an upcoming stake sale in Serbia's state phone giant Telekom Srbija.

Serbian Telecommunications Minister Jasna Matic said America Movil, owned by tycoon Carlos Slim, has expressed interest in buying tender documentation but has not offered a price for a stake in the company.

The Serbian government owns 80 per cent of Telekom Srbija, with Greek operator OTE (OTEr.AT) holding the other 20 percent. The government invited bids for 51 per cent of the telecom operator in October.

"We will see whether the Mexican company will purchase documentation next week," Matic told reporters on Tuesday.

America Movil, which has operations ranging from the United States to Argentina, closed the third quarter with 267 million service accounts: 217 wireless, 28 million fixed-line, 12.5 million broadband Internet, and 9.4 million paid television.

Two weeks ago, the Mexican company announced a four-year expansion plan that includes aggressive subscriber base growth, deploying a submarine cable to improve traffic in Latin America, launching mobile financial services, and producing some content in countries where it already offers television services.