Telefonica Movistar del Ecuador, a unit of Spain's Telefonica SA (TEF), will increase by 30% its planned investment for 2009, Alex Gerke, Telefonica's manager of marketing, said Tuesday.

In March, Telefonica had said it would invest around $100 million in Ecuador this year.

The company didn't release figures on its investment in Ecuador for last year.

Last November, Telefonica signed a new 15-year contract with the Ecuadorian government to offer mobile phone services in the country. Telefonica will pay around $206 million for the 15-year concession.

The company plans to invest around $400 million in the coming years to improve its networks and services such as 3G, or third generation, services.

According to official data, Ecuador reached 12.2 million mobile telephony subscribers at the end of June.

Porta Celular, a unit of Mexico's America Movil SAB (AMX), leads the market, with 8.66 million subscribers, followed by Movistar del Ecuador with 3.25 million and locally owned Alegro PCS with 312,381.

-By Mercedes Alvaro, Dow Jones Newswires; 5939-9728-653; mercedes.alvaro@dowjones.com