Telefonica Telecom (Merged with Telefonica Moviles Colombia)

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In April 2006, Telefonica International SA acquired 50% plus one share of Colombia de Telecomunicaciones SA ESP (Telecom) for US $368 million. Telecom had fixed lines covering over 1000 Colombian municipalities and 2,400,000 users at the end of 2006. In April 2006, the 50% stake was divested through a competitive bid organized by Telecom. Two final bids were submitted by CANTV and Telefonica SA with a minimum bid of US $233 million. Financial closure was reached later in April 2006, when the shares were transferred to Telefonica SA. In December 2006, Colombia de Telecomunicaciones SA ESP (Telecom) merged with Telefonica Data Colombia SA giving Telefonica SA 52.03% of the shares of Telcom. At this point, Telecom’s name was changed to Telefonica Telecom. Telefonica Telecom was the largest fixed line carrier and had approximately 60% of the Colombian local and long distance telephone market. It competed with Telmex and ETB in 2006. In June 2012 Telefónica Móviles Colombia, S.A. and Colombia Telecomunicaciones S.A. merged bringing all of its operations in the country (fixed and mobile services) together under the Movistar brand. Telefónica Colombia reported 14.1 million accesses at the end of 2012.