At its 2022 Virtual Investor Day Millicom, a provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications services dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand, has made some key investment announcements.
These included expansion of the company’s fixed broadband network by a targeted three million additional home passings in the next three years on top of about 12.4 million today. The eventual aim is over 20 million passings in the medium term.
Millicom also has a plan to spin off its portfolio of owned towers into a tower company, a structural re-organisation that will include up to 10,000 towers. This initiative is expected to be completed in the next 12-18 months.
Most ambitiously perhaps, it wants to turn what it calls its nascent fintech asset, Tigo Money, into a separate company, to maximise business potential and facilitate the attraction of growth capital and complementary fintech expertise.
Tigo Money, says Millicom, has a unique opportunity to increase financial inclusion in Tigo’s market while capturing a leading share of an estimated $14 billion total addressable fintech market opportunity. This initiative is expected to be completed in the next 12-24 months.
According to the UK’s Financial Times, the group has 44 million mobile customers and 4 million home broadband customers; some $3billion will be spent on upgrading infrastructure and expanding the existing business.
Millicom has sold off its African operations since 2016 in order to focus fully on the nine Latin American markets it serves: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, Bolivia and Colombia.
