Shares in Brazil’s Oi have risen sharply following the appointment of Zeinal Bava as the company’s new chief executive on Tuesday.

At the close of business on the same day, Oi’s share price was up by 17% on the Sao Paolo exchange, representing the operator’s biggest increase since October 2008, according to Bloomberg.

Spain’s Telefonica is considering whether to sell its Irish subsidiary as a means of reducing debts, according to a report from the Financial Times.

Citing a source familiar with the situation, the newspaper reports that Telefonica (Madrid, Spain) has received expressions of interest in O2 Ireland and is considering the offers.

A deal could generate as much as €700 million ($911 million) for the Spanish operator, according to the report.

Spain’s Telefonica is touting its M2M credentials after scoring highly in two separate rankings of M2M communications service providers in recent weeks.

Telefonica Digital, the operator’s M2M division, topped the 2013 M2M Scorecard compiled by analyst firm Analysys Mason and was highlighted for its centralized structure and partnership philosophy.

It seems mobile network operators are constantly being urged to play a bigger M2M role than that of connectivity provider, but Telenor Connexion claims its focus on connectivity is helping it stay ahead of the competition.

The operator this week announced a new deal to provide connectivity services in Europe and Asia for Geotab, a North American fleet telematics specialist now expanding its service internationally.

M2M managed services provider Wyless has signed an important agreement with Telefonica Digital that will help it tap into the surging demand for M2M services in Latin America.

The deal allows Wyless (Lawrence, MA, USA) partners to use the Telefonica Global SIM in conjunction with Wyless managed services on more than 350 networks around the worldwide.

Nevertheless, the real focus in on Latin America, where Telefonica (Madrid, Spain) operates networks in some of the region’s biggest markets.

Telecoms giant America Movil has bolstered its presence in the US market with the acquisition of Start Wireless Group, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) with about 1.4 million customers.

The transaction was carried out through Tracfone, America Movil’s US subsidiary, but the terms and conditions have not been disclosed.

Start Wireless (Holland, OH, USA) operates under the Page Plus Cellular brand and specializes in prepaid plans for voice, messaging and data services.

Spain’s Telefonica has reported a 20.6% increase in net income for the first three months of the year, to €902 million ($1.19 billion), but says revenues dropped by 8.8%, to €14.14 billion, largely because of unfavorable exchange-rate movements.

Net profit surged because Telefonica (Madrid, Spain) had reported losses from associates in the prior-year quarter, and the Group’s operating income fell by 17.7%, to €2.07 billion.

Spanish telecoms incumbent Telefonica has agreed to sell a 40% stake in its Central American subsidiaries to Corporacion Multi Inversiones (CMI), a Latin American industrial group, for a fee of $500 million.

The operator is to spin off operations in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama and manage them in a separate unit in which it will retain a 60% controlling stake.

Telefonica (Madrid, Spain) is due to receive a further payment of $72 million from CMI depending on the “operational performance of the aforementioned assets in the coming years”.