Mexico's Telmex buying Peru's Boga

MEXICO CITY --Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, said Tuesday it was buying a Peruvian cable TV operator, furthering its expansion into South America.

Telmex, Mexico's largest fixed-line phone company, said it is in the process of buying Boga Comunicaciones, which has operations in the Peruvian capital of Lima and in Chiclayo. The acquisition follows a similar deal in Colombia last year.

The Mexico City-based company, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim, has expanded into South America to offset lackluster revenue growth at home, where it has kept rates in its key local telephony business unchanged since 2001.

"Through the acquisition of cable companies in Colombia and Peru we are solidifying our position in the residential market," said Oscar Von Hauske, Telmex's international president.

In 2004, Telmex bought the assets of corporate communications provider AT&T Latin America Corp., which operated in five countries. That deal was followed by the acquisition of a stake in Brazilian long-distance carrier Embratel Participacoes, Argentina's Ertach and cable assets in Brazil, Colombia, and now Peru.

International operations now generate about 27 percent of Telmex's total revenues, Von Hauske said.

Telmex is especially keen to buy cable TV operators with a view to upgrade their networks to offer triple-play -- the bundling of voice, Internet and video services over the same network -- to residential users.