The day after América Móvil’s three Brazil-based operations – Net, Embratel and Claro – launched a range of integrated services, Telefônica Brazil announced its first products package integrated with Vivo, the Brazilian mobile carrier it acquired last year. The service launch was a fixed-telephone offering in Porto Alegre, which is Telefônica’s first operation outside the São Paulo market.
The offering is not quite as deep as that launched by América Móvil’s operations, which included high-definition pay-television, mobile and fixed-telephony and fixed and mobile broadband Internet package. The move does represent a competitive increase in the market between the two biggest foreign telecom groups in Brazil: Carlos Slim’s América Móvil and the Spanish-based Telefónica Group.
Telefónica owns fixed telephony and broadband services, bought mobile carrier Vivo and has recently acquired control of pay-TV provider TVA. However, its current offerings do not include three firms services combined. In statement, Telefônica CEO Antonio Carlos Valente said that this launch represents a very important moment to Telefônica because it shows the fixed, mobile’s synergy that has been provided by companies.
At the recent Futurecom event, Valente announced that all products will be branded Vivo beginning early next year, bringing a conclusion to an integration process that started in mid-2010. The plan was initially announced at Futurecom 2010 event, though at that time no specific date was set. Valente said at that time Telefônica would use three brands worldwide – Movistar, O2 and Vivo – and that the migration process would be done gradually, when markets were ready.
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