Bell Canada to Start New Brazilian Phone Company in December
Sao Paulo, Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- A group led by Bell Canada International Inc., Canada's No. 1 phone company, said it will begin operating a new phone company in Brazil's richest state from December.
The group, which also includes VeloCom and Qualcomm Inc. of the U.S., WLL International Inc. and Liberman SA, said it will begin by offering services in 15 municipalities in Sao Paulo, a state of about 33 million inhabitants.
This will rise to 53 municipalities over the next three years, the company said in a statement. The company, called Vesper Sao Paulo, said it will invest $400 million by the end of the year, part of $1 billion in investments over the next three years to set up and expand a new network in the state.
Montreal-based Bell Canada and its partners paid 70 million reais ($37 million) in April for the license to provide a fixed- line service in Sao Paulo.
The new company will compete with Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo SA, controlled by Spain's Telefonica SA.
Vesper aims to be serving as many as 500,000 customers within two months and more than 1 million by 2002. The company will eventually employ about 1,500 staff, it said.
As well as starting operations within Sao Paulo, Vesper said it aims to begin offering an inter-urban telephone service in December. |
