The Brazilian telecoms regulator has approved the restructuring of Telefonica’s local operations, which will allow it to incorporate mobile operator Vivo, according to a report in the Brazilian newspaper Estadao.
Telefonica and ANATEL did not reply to…
The Brazilian telecoms regulator has approved the restructuring of Telefonica’s local operations, which will allow it to incorporate mobile operator Vivo, according to a report in the Brazilian newspaper Estadao.
Telefonica and ANATEL did not reply to questions.
Vivo, the leading mobile operator with 60 million customers, announced in December 2010 that it was planning to merge its shares into fixed-line operator Telecomunicaciones de Sao Paolo (Telesp), which is also owned by Telefonica.
Telesp and Vivo said at the time that they believed that the move would simplify the organisational structure and rationalise the cost structure of the two companies.
The move followed Telefonica’s E7.5bn acquisition of Portugal Telecom’s 50% stake in the Vivo holding company JV (Brasilcel) earlier in 2010.
In early March this year, Telefonica made a public tender offer for the remaining minority shares in Vivo.
The offer was originally for over 15 million shares in Vivo, but when the offer closed Telefonica announced that it had acquired only 10.63 million.
The approval from the regulator ANATEL came the day after Telefonica had announced that it was planning to make an investment of R$24.3bn in Brazil over the next four years.
Telefonica said in a statement that the money would be spent on upgrading and expanding its networks, as well as launching new products and services for the mobile and broadband. It also said that it could be spent on new operational licences.
According to the Brazilian news website Teletime, Vivo is also planning to deactivate its CDMA network in September. This will leave it providing GSM and 3G services.
