Telecel S.A.E.C.A.

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What it is

Telecel started operations in August 1992 as Paraguay’s first mobile phone company, won a national licence through competitive tender, and for six years was the only cellular carrier in the country. In 2004, on its 12th birthday, it rebranded as Tigo, the name it carries commercially today.

Under the Tigo brand, it is the leading provider of communications, information, entertainment and solutions services in Paraguay, offering mobile telephony, cable and broadband internet. It also runs Tigo Money, Paraguay’s dominant mobile-wallet service, and Tigo Sports, a pay-TV sports channel.

Who owns it

Telecel S.A.E. is wholly owned by Millicom International, the Luxembourg-headquartered group, which holds 100% of the shares.

There is no public equity float in Paraguay; local investors can access the company only through its bonds, listed on the Bolsa de Valores de Asunción.

Millicom itself was established in December 1990 and has its legal domicile in Luxembourg, trading on Nasdaq (symbol TIGO) and Nasdaq Stockholm. Millicom operates in nine Latin American markets, including Paraguay.

Who runs it

Roberto Laratro serves as director general (CEO) of Tigo Paraguay, as confirmed in the company’s 33rd-anniversary communications in August 2025. Marcelo Benítez, a Paraguayan national who began his career at Telecel in 1997 as a customer-service representative, is CEO of the Millicom group, giving the parent a distinctly local leadership tie to its oldest market.

At board level, Ángel Auad Cattebeke — who joined Telecel in 1992 and served as its founding Director and President — holds the position of titular board director, bridging the company’s entire history. Salvador Escalón, Executive Vice-President and Chief Legal & Compliance Officer of Millicom, sits as alternate director.

The money, in plain words

Tigo Paraguay closed Q4 2024 with service revenue of USD 136 million, up 4.7% year-on-year, driven by solid growth in mobile and business-to-business services. That is the most recent publicly available period figure; full-year audited accounts are not disclosed separately from Millicom’s consolidated results.

The operation kept almost USD 66 of every USD 136 in revenue as operating profit before interest, tax and depreciation — an EBITDA margin of 46.7%, which is high even by Latin American telecoms standards, reflecting the company’s scale dominance in a relatively small, fast-growing market. Net profit at subsidiary level is not disclosed in available sources.

What it is doing now

The most material recent move is a deliberate swap of foreign-currency debt for local-currency debt. In September 2024, Telecel redeemed USD 150 million of its 5.875% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2027, paying bondholders in full at par.

It then replaced that dollar debt with guaraní bonds at home.

Telecel S.A.E. launched a new Global Bond Programme (G3) on the Bolsa de Valores de Asunción, with the stated goal of restructuring debt — replacing dollar obligations with local-currency bonds to reduce exposure to exchange-rate swings and improve the company’s results.

The programme, registered by the Superintendencia de Valores in July 2025, is worth up to Gs. 800,685,000,000 (about USD 132 million at today’s rate — our calculation).

What to watch

• Currency risk progress: The dollar-to-guaraní debt swap is the defining financial story. If the guaraní holds steady or strengthens, interest costs fall in USD terms and margins widen; a sharp depreciation reverses the benefit.
• Full-year financials: Telecel does not publish standalone annual accounts in an easily accessible public format; pressure from bond investors for greater transparency may grow as the G3 programme places bonds with local investors.
• Market position: Telecel/Tigo has historically commanded the largest subscriber base in Paraguay; any shift in that share — driven by rivals or regulatory change — would directly affect the cashflows backing the bonds.
• Millicom group strategy: Millicom completed its restructuring programme in 2024 and, with leverage reduced, reinstated shareholder distributions. Any further portfolio decisions — sales, new investments — would flow through to Telecel’s strategic and financial position.

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This is news, not investment advice.