Chile - Fixed-Line Market and Infrastructure - Background Report

Synopsis

Chile’s incumbent local telephony operator, Telefónica Chile (trading as Movistar), dates back to 1880, when the Compañía de Teléfonos Edison was created in Valparaiso. It was renamed West Coast Telephone Co in 1884, Chile Telephone Company in 1889, and Compañía de Teléfonos de Chile in 1930. The operator was nationalised in 1974, and re-privatised in 1987, when the Australian Bond Group acquired 30% of its shares. It was renamed Telefónica CTC Chile (CTC) in 1995. Chile’s incumbent long-distance telephony operator Entel was created in 1964 as a state-owned company to improve Chile’s telephony services and to replace the national telecom infrastructure, which had been badly damaged by an earthquake. This report provides background information for the more regularly updated Chile - Fixed-Line Market and Infrastructure - Overview, Statistics and Forecasts. As such, it covers details on the history and development of Chile’s fixed-line market and telecom infrastructure that are absent from the more up-to-date report, but it does not contain forecasts or statistics.