CODETEL

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CLARO - CODETEL is the largest telecommunications company in the Dominican Republic providing local, long-distance, and wireless voice services, together with advanced data services, to approximately a million customers.

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[edit] Company Background

Previously known as CODETEL (Compañia Dominicana de Telefonos), the name change was announced February 2, 2004 at the National Theater of Santo Domingo in a ceremony to welcome the Verizon brand to the country. On January 31, 2007 the company owners, América Móvil, announce their decision to rename it with the previous CODETEL, for their telecom business and Claro for the mobile service. América Móvil (NYSE: AMX) owned 100% of the company, which is the leading local, long-distance and wireless telephone service provider in the Dominican Republic. On April 3, 2006 Verizon agreed to sell its stakes in Verizon Dominicana along with CANTV of Venezuela and Telecomunicaciones de Puerto Rico Inc. (TELPRI) in Puerto Rico to Carlos Slim Helú's Telmex and América Móvil for $3.7 billion.[1].

[edit] CODETEL History

CODETEL began telephone service in the Dominican Republic during the 1940s as a subsidiary of the US firm General Telephone and Electronics (GTE), and held a de facto monopoly until the mid 1990s. After the Dominican government passed Law 153 in 1998 providing for effective liberalization and improved pro-competition regulation, new entrants had eroded CODETEL's predominant position with the incumbent capturing only 50% of the international traffic to the United States (accounting for 70% of the total international traffic).[1] In 2000 Verizon was formed after a merger by Bell Atlantic and GTE, with CODETEL continuing operations as a subsidiary of the new company. During November 2003 CODETEL selected Nortel Networks (NYSE/TSX: NT) to provide voice over IP (Internet Protocol) network intended to converge voice and data traffic, help drive lower operating costs, and provide advanced services throughout the country.[2] During December of the same year CODETEL announced the commercial launch of its Flash Movil 3G network, a CDMA2000 1X voice and high-speed data network using equipment, software and services from Lucent Technologies. With this 3G network, Codetel offers subscribers new data services such as high-speed instant messaging, e-mail and Internet access at speeds of up to 144 kilobits per second (kbit/s). Also, the use of compression software in the network allows Codetel network users to reach speeds of up to 1 Megabit per second for data transmission.[3]

[edit] Management

The Current President of CLARO CODETEL is Oscar Peña Chacón.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Institutions, Performance, and the Financing of Infrastructure Services in the Caribbean, World Bank Working Paper No. 58, 2005
  2. ^ CODETEL, Nortel Networks to Deploy Voice Over IP Network in Dominican Republic, Nortel Networks November 13, 2003
  3. ^ Codetel and Lucent launch 3G mobile network in Dominican Republic, www.3GNewsroom.com, December 4, 2003

[edit] External links