SBC Communications CompletesInvestment in Brazilian Wireless Provider; SBC-led investment in ATLfinalized after receiving Brazilian regulatory approval
January 11, 2000 01:47 PM
SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 11, 2000--SBC Communications Inc. SBC today announced that it has completed its investment in wireless provider Algar Telecom Leste (ATL) S.A., which serves customers in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo states. Telefonos de Mexico S.A. de C.V. (Telmex) TMX joins SBC in the investment.
The agency that regulates Brazil's telecommunications industry, Anatel, approved the transaction, which also results in SBC becoming the qualified telecommunications operator for ATL. SBC and Telmex will acquire their combined stake in ATL from Algar Telecom, a private diversified Brazilian company. As part of the transaction, Williams Communications WCG will reduce its stake to a 50-percent economic interest in ATL.
SBC and Telmex will have the opportunity to subsequently increase their investment to a 50-percent stake in ATL, but under current Brazilian regulations they cannot do so until 2004; until then, Algar retains an investment in ATL as well as voting and board control of ATL.
Financial terms of the investment were not released.
SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) is a global communications leader. Through its trusted brands - Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, Pacific Bell, SBC Telecom, Nevada Bell, SNET and Cellular One - and world-class network, SBC provides local and long-distance phone service, wireless and data communications, paging, high-speed Internet access and messaging, cable and satellite television, security services and telecommunications equipment, as well as directory advertising and publishing. In the United States, the company currently has 87.3 million voice grade equivalent lines, 10.3 million wireless customers and is undertaking a national expansion program that will bring SBC service to an additional 30 markets. Internationally, SBC has telecommunications investments in 22 countries. With more than 200,000 employees, SBC is the 14th largest employer in the U.S., with annual revenues that rank it among the largest Fortune 500 companies.
Telefonos de Mexico (www.telmex.com.mx), its subsidiaries and associated companies, (TELMEX) provides the widest range of telecommunications services both domestically and internationally and has the most extensive coverage of any telecommunications company in Mexico. Currently, Telmex serves more than 10.5 million access lines and 4.1 million wireless customers throughout Mexico. Williams Communications Group, Inc. WCG , through its subsidiaries, is North America's only exclusively carrier-focused fiber-optic network and the largest independent source of end-to-end integrated business communications solutions - data, voice or video. Based in Tulsa, Okla., Williams Communications has 9,000 employees primarily in North America, with offices in Europe and Asia and investments in South America and Australia. Approximately 85 percent of WCG stock is held by Williams WMB which, in 1985, became the first energy company to harness its core competency as a builder of networks to enable competition in the communications industry. Additional information is available at www.williams.com and www.williamscommunications.com. The Algar Group (www.algar.com.br), is one of the most important private conglomerates in Brazil with 23 companies grouped around four divisions: telecommunications, agribusiness, services and entertainment. Algar Telecom, the Group's holding, is the controlling company for the activities of these subsidiaries in the area of telecommunications. Among its main subsidiaries is CTBC Telecom (Companhia de Telecomunicacoes do Brasil Central), operating since 1954. Another company, ATL (Algar Telecom Leste), is in charge for operating B band cellular phone in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo adding more than 900,000 wireless subscribers in its first year of operation. Algars Telecom investments for 1998 have totaled R$ 2.3 billion. Its strategic location in the midst of a population of 36 million people in its area of influence. It is also responsible for 1.7 million access calls, ranging from fixed and mobile telephony.
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