Brazil’s antitrust agency, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, gave Telefónica the green light to acquire GVT on March 25. Following the approval, the local unit of the Spanish group announced changes in executive leadership. GVT CEO Amos Genish will take the helm as president and CEO of Telefónica Brasil in lieu of both Paulo César Teixeira, who was the CEO of Vivo, and Antônio Carlos Valente, the current president of Telefónica Brasil.
Teixeira is leaving the company to dedicate himself to other professional projects, while Valente will become Telefónica Brasil’s chairman of the board. He will also take a position at Telefónica Latin America soon.
Telefónica agreed to buy GVT last year from the French group Vivendi, aiming to become a better competitor against rival NET with triple-play offerings of pay-TV, landline and Internet access. Telefónica hopes to combine its Vivo business, which has the most mobile customers in Brazil, with GVT, which offers fixed telephony, broadband and pay-TV services. 
Rio 2016: With fewer than 500 days before the Olympic games begin in Rio de Janeiro, Embratel, which is owned by América Móvil, released details of the telecommunications needs for the games. According to Embratel President José Formoso, the company has been preparing for the past 3 years to meet connectivity needs for the Olympic events to meet demand for approximately 10,500 athletes from 205 countries. Embratel estimates it will take about 18,000 fixed lines, 16,000 SIM cards and 80,000 network points to support 157 venues.
More news from the Latin American region:
CHILE – VTR is ready to launch its 4G services by June. The MVNO began operating in 2012 and currently uses the Movistar network.
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BRAZIL – Mobile operator TIM, along with the state-owned bank CAIXA and MasterCard, launched prepaid bank accounts based on mobile numbers. The bank account, called TIM MULTIBANK CAIXA, will allow customers to make payments and transfer money using their mobile devices.
COSTA RICA – Claro will no longer sell Motorola cellphones in its shops in the country.
CHILE – Subtel will hold an auction for a fiber optic project to connect the extreme southern areas of the country with a 3,000 kilometer network.
PARAGUAY – The country’s telecom regulator has begun a public hearing period over revisions to Paraguay’s telecommunication law, which dates from 1995 (Ley 642/95). One of the items being evaluated is a possible extension of telecom licenses from 10 to 20 years.
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