Brasil Telecom
Encyclopedia : B : BR : BRA : Brasil Telecom
Brasil Telecom S.A. is a major Brazilian telecommunications company headquartered in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia. The company is one of three fixed line telephone companies in Brazil that emerged from the break-up of Telebras. Originally the company was called Tele Centro Sul, because its service covered the states in the central and southern parts of Brasil, namely Acre, Rondônia, Goiás, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, as well as the Brazilian Federal District.
History
The Brazilian investment bank Opportunity, together with Telecom Italia and some Brazilian pension funds, paid 2.07 billion reais in June 1998 to buy Tele Centro Sul when it was sold by the Brazilian government. After some legal wrangling, the company is controlled by Citigroup and some Brazilian pension funds. Brasil Telecom started up a wireless service in 2004.
Brasil Telecom's stock is traded on Bovespa, where it is part of the Ibovespa index, as well as on the New York Stock Exchange.
Legal Problems
Brasil Telecom, the country's third largest fixed-line operator, and the investment bank Opportunity, which controlled Brasil Telecom, hired Kroll. Kroll's assignment was to determine whether Telecom Italia deliberately overpaid in 2000 when it purchased the Brazilian fixed-line phone company Companhia Riograndense de Telecomunicoes from Spain's Telefonica. If Telecom Italia overpaid, Kroll's clients want to know whether the money went to kickbacks, bribes or other irregularities involving regulators or company officials. Brasil Telecom and Telecom Italia have been locked in court struggles since 2000. Kroll was accused of spying on Brazilian government officials.External links
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