Carlos Slim's America Movil to acquire T-Mobile's Simple Mobile to boost presence in the US

America Movil, the telecommunications company controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, has agreed to acquire Simple Mobile Inc., a unit of T-Mobile USA, in order to boost its presence in the US.

America Movil, which this week offered to buy a 23.2-per cent stake in Dutch telecom operator KPN for $3.4 billion, said that its US unit Tracfone Wireless Inc will buy Simple Mobile that has activated more than 2.5 million subscribers.

Mexico City-based America Movil did not reveal the cost of the acquisition but several media reports suggested that the offer price was in the region of $100 million.

Irvine, California-based Simple Mobile offers voice, text messaging, data and wireless broadband services. It is a T-Mobile reseller, offering prepaid month-to-month plans including unlimited texting, voice, and data.

According to Fierce Wireless, Simple Mobile is a 'SIM-only' business, with subscribers either bringing their own unlocked handsets to the carrier, or purchasing phones through one of its affiliate distributors.

Simple Mobile also offers international calling plans, wireless broadband, and service plans specifically for Blackberry devices.

America Movil, is Americas largest cellphone carrier with 246 million cellular subscribers, including 20 million in the US.

Tracfone is the largest mobile virtual network operator in the US and offers mobile phone service on third-party networks using prepaid card system. The acquisition will help it consolidate its presence in the highly competitive US market.