Lerma’s appointment came in the midst of the financial rescue carried out by the Federal Government last June, when Altán Redes received a capital injection of 388.1 million dollars: 41% comes from development banks and 59% from suppliers.
Today, the National Development Bank has 61% of the trust rights of Altán Redes, whose percentage will decrease as the credit is paid off. The manager foresees that Altán will finish paying the loan before 2030.
“A good relationship with creditors”
The pandemic was the prelude to the financial problems of Altán Redes. Several of the clients interested in using the Red Compartida postponed their entry in the midst of an adverse economic environment. So the company stayed with the Virtual Mobile Operators (MVNO) as its main source of income. A year later, the situation was untenable.
Then, the company chaired at that time by Salvador Álvarez requested to benefit from commercial bankruptcy to be able to meet its payment obligations with its creditors. Almost a year away, Altán Redes managed to get out of bankruptcy thanks to the approval of the bankruptcy agreement by 94% of the 120 creditors, to restructure a debt of 29,811.82 million pesos.
“They were long negotiations because there is a very close relationship with all the creditors, since they are companies that continue to provide us with services,” Lerma detailed. “That of 120 (creditors), 94% have adhered to the contract was a reflection that we did give fair and equitable treatment.”
Nokia and Operbes were two of the creditors who did not agree to sign the bankruptcy agreement.
Nokia explained in the resolution document of the bankruptcy agreement of Altán, of which Expansion has a copy, that the Red Compartida company circulated different versions of the proposal, in addition to not having access to the financial analyses, projections or models used by Altán and by the conciliator.
Operbes, for his part, argued that being considered a common creditor, that is, that they do not have a guarantee, the bankruptcy agreement proposed to pay a lower amount, without specifying it. But the company seeks full debt settlement.
Despite the fact that there were four companies that disagreed in approving the bankruptcy agreement, Carlos Lerma assures that the company maintains “a good relationship” with said creditors, and even has plans with Nokia to be the provider in charge of updating its systems. of networks.
“Our interest was for all the participants to join, first because (the Red Compartida) is a strategic project for the country, and second because they are suppliers that we will continue to need. However, we also understand that each of the companies has its own particular interests”, assured the manager.
Discards serving end customers
Altán Redes has 114 clients that offer 257 integrated services to six million users.
Carlos Lerma said that the company was evaluating the possibility of offering services to end users, a change in the business model that would imply “deploying a sales force in all those regions, which would be very complicated and inefficient.” In addition, the company would require an adaptation to its concession and even a constitutional reform.
But now that the company is out of bankruptcy, the priority is to stabilize its operation and monetize the Red Compartida by 2024.
The company will maintain its business model as a wholesaler and the strategy that will allow this objective is to increase the number of Virtual Mobile Operators, especially in the retail and fintech sectors.
Lerma explains that in order to add more companies to its network, it also needs to accelerate the deployment of infrastructure so that its current clients can increase their markets and do not have to choose another company, as Sky, Izzi Móvil and Megamovil have done, who have achieved alliances. with AT&T to use their network.
CFE Telecom: the new great state ally of Altán
The new director of Altán, who for the first time occupies this position within a company, revealed that when he took over the company he was “at a delicate point.” For almost half a year, Altán stopped deploying infrastructure and updating its systems, causing problems in its services.
Now, CFE Telecommunications and Internet for All will be the great ally of Altán to grow your network and achieve your coverage milestones. The state company will deploy 5,500 towers, equipment and fiber optics -which will imply an investment of 30,000 million pesos-, and the Red Compartida will use this infrastructure so that its MVNOs can lease it.
The Altán director revealed that he reached a revenue sharing agreementthat is, what is generated from leasing the towers and equipment of CFE Telecom by the MVNOs of the Red Compartida, will be shared between both companies.
“(CFE Telecom) allows us to use their towers to increase coverage and what we do is share revenue. They need a return and we need a margin to continue operating, and what we do is share those revenues as a percentage, and it allows us to reach our 85% coverage milestone in 13 months, that is, in December 2023,” Lerma assured.
He announced that as of this month, CFE Telecom towers will be in operation in 40 sites, and by the end of this year they are expected to be present in 300 sites, without giving more details of the locations. While next year it is expected that the 5,500 towers of CFE Telecom will already be installed.
Last August, CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos announced the installation of 2,800 antennas in the country, which will connect 6.4 million Mexicans located in 18,634 towns that until now had no internet access.
In a first stage, 873 antennas will be installed in the southeast of the country. In Chiapas 479 will be placed, in Oaxaca 359 and in Tabasco 35, three entities with the greatest backwardness in connectivity.
“Since we arrived on July 1, we began to reestablish the contracts, to define what payments could be made under commercial bankruptcy to the main suppliers, and to design systems and infrastructure update programs,” he said. “We are very positive,” he concluded.