The sale of Colombian state-owned telco Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota (ETB) has come under attack from opposition politicians.
The opposition Alternative Democratic Pole party (Polo) has organised a march for today in Bogota to protest against…
The sale of Colombian state-owned telco Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota (ETB) has come under attack from opposition politicians.
The opposition Alternative Democratic Pole party (Polo) has organised a march for today in Bogota to protest against the sale of the Bogota municipal council’s stake 86.6% stake in ETB.
In a statement, Polo accused part of the government of favouring “international speculative capital”.
The statement cited Polo’s executive council, saying that the government’s intention to sell ETB “obeyed the appetites of the multinationals”, mentioning Telefonica and Telmex, the two main telecoms competitors to ETB in the domestic market.
According to a report in local newspaper El Espectador earlier this week, the mayor of Bogota, Clara Lopez Obregon, has said that she is looking to build alliances with state businesses in China, South Korea and India in order to prevent the sale of ETB.
Lopez is a member of Polo.
ETB provides broadband, fixed-line, and television services. It announced an EBITDA of CPs671.2bn (US$381.4m) for the year up to March 2011.
In 2008, the telco started looking to attract a partner, but ended the process in September 2010 after its deadline passed without any bids being tabled.
In June, local media reported that the Bogota council was holding a series of extraordinary meetings on the issue of whether to sell the ETB stake. These were due to continue until the end of July.
In a statement yesterday, the country’s president Juan Manuel Santos emphasised the benefits of attracting foreign investment into the country.
“It doesn’t matter if the investment is foreign or domestic, as long as it produces employment,” Santos said.
