The Colombian unit of Spain’s Telefónica has unified its services under the brand Movistar. The move includes its fixed telephony, broadband services and satellite TV, and follows the company’s international direction of offering its services under three brands worldwide – Movistar, O2 and Vivo.
In Colombia, Telefonica has 1.4 million fixed telephony clients, 630,000 broadband customers and 255,000 satellite TV customers. In total, the company has 14 million mobile and fixed communication service customers in Colombia.
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In a statement, Telefónica’s CEO Alfonso Gómez said the launch of a unified brand represents another step toward developing a model that will optimize the company’s communication with Colombian customers.
As for Telefónica Moviles, CEO Ariel Ponton noted the changes contribute to the company’s innovative approach to ensuring a higher level of service and experience in all points of contact with their customers, including greater coverage of retail centers, more payment options and a convergent, simple and competitive price.
Colombia thus joins other countries in Latin America, including Peru, Brazil and Chile, where Telefónica consolidated its brands to strengthen customer relationships.
The re-branding also comes after Movistar’s announcement in April that it had reached an agreement with the Colombian government to merge fixed-line operator Colombia Telecomunicaciones (Coltel) with mobile operator Telefónica Moviles Colombia.
Under the agreement, which is subject to approval by both companies’ shareholders, Telefónica increased its share from 52% to 70% of the combined company. The Colombian government will own 30% with the possibility of increasing its stake by 3% at a future date.
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