What kind of feedback do you have with Telgua and what are the major developments in the project?
Since the beginning we have made efforts to pass the year 2000 and the main projects in the first 12 months were to do technology consolidation, we made reengineering, we made an effort in the commercial development, I mean we transformed the old style stores to a new store where we can give customer service, we can sell the products we offer now. In the past we used to have only telephone lines and now we have PC's, internet, paging, telephones and wireless telephones. We make a lot of efforts in training the people in these new technologies and in this new way of doing business. We put in place around five new operations: cellular phones, data transfer, internet, public telephones and cable TV. Those new businesses are very different from the old telephones we had.
What does it mean for Guatemala to have such a change in the technology and changing the tradition of the customer towards these new ways of doing business?
I think that people thought that the change of a very old company to a new one would take a lot of time. It's easier to sell new products from a totally new company than to adapt them to an old one. I think that market at the end saw that the new people were giving the service not only in a few areas but also outside Guatemala City.
So the idea is to have the internet in full coverage?
We already have all the country with Internet. We have a tremendous enrollment of subscribers for PC's and our focus is more in the area where we have the services.
Are you making the name Telgua to be a Guatemalan company and not to be seen as Telmex or do you wanted to be seen as Mexican?
No, we have local partners here and each country where we have operations has its own name and it's operated separate with different foci.
You have a lot of competition in the cellular phone area (Comcel, Telefónica de España, Bellsouth), what do you offer to the customer to make him choose your service?
We offer a variety of products. We are the only company in this country that can offer you a single line to a high speed internet and PC's, paging, etc., to a very small customer in Peten, for example, and to a big customer like a bank in downtown. The competition is very well segmented and people are looking for one contact that sell all the products and have only one invoice and we are working in that a lot.
Q The potential of the region looks very interesting internationally speaking. What kind of roll is the telecommunications industry in this country setting for the Central American region?
In this area they lack telecommunications (lines), also they lack the roles, efforts, products and services that we have in other countries. So to do that is a big opportunity for everybody and the first thing they would look to put in some business is a telephone line no matter what kind of it. There are products that can be placed faster as wireless and we need more technology, state of art and less people in this area. For fixed lines we need more people. We are working in these two areas.
The areas you are talking about hopefully will change as the market, what kind of expansion plans do you have projected for Guatemala in the next 2-3 years?
Well, in 1998 the market is about 600,000 and today
it is 1,200,000 and some of us and the competitors
think that the growth will be tremendous. The internet
will also increase and the cellular phones will
be used more than fixed lines. |
The image of the company is also very important, what is the image of Telgua, in your opinion, of the people of Guatemala and of the internationally community as they have seen your growth?
A. Well I think the image is one thing that you develop every day and do not buy it in a store. You develop an image. When you are new, you can by newspapers and TV but when you have a story here you have to sell your image in the stores, technician, service, it takes more time. We are working more in the real thing such as training the people so they start our lines, prepare our lines, give all the support in the invoice and a lot in the new products outside the company such as high speed internet, computers sold through our invoice, internet all around the country, paging in Telgua invoice. Now we sold three different telephones that have guarantee (in the past GUATEL did not sell telephones). In that area we do a lot but really the people see the service they are getting in their homes and offices. In marketing we have two big areas: one for big customers such as financial, tourism and commercial, etc., and the other is more stores, customers service, payments and to show our services as internet, video conference.
What position in the market will you have in five years?
We will be the leader as we are now. Many of our competitors work in our network. We provide infrastructure and they give the service.
In this country right now and for the future is this a line to invest?
Yes. Of course in the places that have a lot of opportunities are also a lot of risks. Here there are a lot things to be done and there are a lot of regulations. Guatemala is still going for all of Central America.
You are from Mexico, which part of Mexico and what is your experience in telecommunications?
I am from Mexico City and I have been 18 years in telecommunications. I was with Cablevisión the last 3 years and in the past with Condumex. I have worked in Mexico and Latin America.
Now you are probably taking the decision making process here, what does it mean for your personal achievements?
We have different goals but in Telgua changing the future of the company is the most important goal we have because all the technical issues are already in place. What we do in Telgua is go directly to suppliers and people that are around Telgua. Whatever we do we will impact the whole country. In other areas the goal is marketing. In internet and data is a higher level and we are looking for different kinds of customers.
You are obviously driving an interesting land.
Yes of course and the competition go for their market and want to take share of our market.
If you could say one message for our readers about yourself and Guatemala what would it be?
That it is a country with plenty of opportunities to invest and do business and this means a lot of work and a lot of leadership to do that for.
*** NOTE Forbes Global/World Investment News Ltd will not be held responsible for unedited manuscripts at the time of publication.*** |
TELGUA