Miami, FL–(HISPANIC PR WIRE – BUSINESS WIRE)–June 15, 2005–The Cisneros Group of Companies today announced that the nation’s first pay-as-you-go wireless communications service specifically targeting the more than 40 million Hispanics living in the United States is now available in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso and throughout the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Movida was launched at Wal-Mart stores in Phoenix and San Diego In mid-April.
“We are extremely pleased with sales of our Movida pay-as-you-go wireless phones. The response of the US-Hispanic community is just what we hoped it would be at this early stage of our rollout across the U.S.,” said Enrique Garcia, the veteran Latin American telecommunications executive recently named Chairman of Movida.
Movida – majority-owned by Cisneros — has teamed with Sprint (NYSE:FON) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) to begin providing wireless voice and data communications using the Sprint nationwide wireless network, with rate plans that cater to the needs of the U.S. Hispanic market. Through its arrangement with Wal-Mart and other regional sales outlets, Movida is rolling out Movida-branded handsets and cards in select markets across the nation.
“Movida bi-lingual wireless phones are already catching on with our Hispanic communities in the US because they offer the kind of service and the pay-as-you-go convenience traditionally available in most Latin American countries,” Mr. Garcia said. “We are looking forward to introducing even more advanced handsets with many attractive new features in many more US markets in the weeks and months ahead,” Mr. Garcia said.
Commenting on Movida’s future plans Mr. Garcia said that, “We will be launching in Dallas, Austin and in North Texas; rolling out to New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada, as well as the rest of California, and concluding with major launches in the second half of the year in the South, the East and the Midwest.”
About Movida
Movida Communications, Inc. is a newly formed wireless service provider offering pay-as-you-go wireless voice and data communications services exclusively to the U.S. Hispanic population, using Sprint’s all-digital, all-PCS nationwide wireless network. As the nation’s first MVNO targeted at Hispanics, Movida offers all standard custom calling features plus a suite of international voice and data services featuring culturally and geographically-focused content in Spanish.
About the Cisneros Group of Companies
The Cisneros Group of Companies is one of the largest privately held media, entertainment, technology, telecommunications and consumer products organizations in the world. The Group owns or holds interests in companies ranging from broadcast television networks, pay television services and Internet service providers, to beverage businesses and supermarkets. Through its diverse businesses, the Cisneros Group of Companies delivers some of the top brands and the highest quality services to the 550 million Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking consumers in the Americas and Europe. The Group has recently expanded its activities from Ibero-America to countries worldwide.
The Cisneros Group’s holdings include majority and minority interests and may be held, directly or indirectly, through partnerships, joint ventures or alliances. Some of the Group’s holdings include interests in: Venevision, the leading broadcast television channel in Venezuela; Venevision International, a Spanish-language entertainment company with specialization in TV programming; Univision Communications Inc. (NYSE:UVN), the number one provider of Spanish-language content to the U.S. Hispanic audience; Claxson Interactive Group Inc. (XSON), an integrated Ibero-American media and entertainment company; DIRECTV Latin America, a direct-to-home satellite TV provider with operations across the region; Cerveceria Regional, the second-largest brewery and beer distributor in Venezuela; Backus & Johnston, the largest brewer in Peru and the sixth-largest in Latin America; and Pueblo, one of the leading supermarket chains in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
For more information, visit http://www.cisneros.com.
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CONTACT:
The Cisneros Group of Companies, New York
Antonieta Lopez, 212-355-0620
Caracas: 58 (212) 708-9046
