Bestel SA de CV

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Bestel SA de CV, previously known as Cableados y Sistemas, was awarded a concession to operate as a national and international long distance carrier in May 1996. Bestel was one of the eight companies that obtained a concession to operate as long distance carrier between 1995 and 1996. Such licenses were issued as part of Mexican openness of its telecommunications market. Bestel was a consortium owned by Mexican Grupo Varo. Bestel's project consisted of building a 2,250 km fiber cable in Mexico to provide its long distance services in 14 cities. The total project cost was estimated in US$ 156 million of which US$ 140 million were invested between 1996 and 1997, according to Comision Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Cofetel), the Mexican regulatory agency for telecommunications. Bestel's fiber optic cable was designed to be parallel to Mexico's railway system. Bestel planned to cut third party costs by expanding its fiber backbone to 38 cities by end 2002, in addition to the 19 cities currently connected by its 4,100 km network. The company will either build new fiber or acquire it from third parties, which currently constitute a 3,000 km extension to the network. In 2005, Bestel's fiber optic network reached 6,000 km. In December 2007, Televisa’s indirect majority-owned subsidiary, Cablestar, completed the acquisition of shares of companies owning the majority of the assets of Bestel. Cablestar paid U.S.$256.0 million in cash plus an additional capital contribution of U.S.$69.0 million.