Brasil Telecom S.A. (; BrT) was a major

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

company headquartered in the Brazilian capital of

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

. The company was one of three landlines and eight mobile telephone companies – and only long-distance service provider – that emerged in Brazil following the break-up of Telebrás. Originally the company was called Tele Centro Sul, because its service covered the states in the central and southern parts of Brazil, namely

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 2014 ...

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...

, Paraná, Santa Catarina and

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, as well as the Distrito Federal. Since 9 January 2009, the company is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of Oi.

History

The Brazilian investment bank

Opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

, which managed funds for investors including

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

and some Brazilian pension funds, in partnership with

Telecom Italia TIM S.p.A. (formerly Telecom Italia S.p.A.) is an Italian telecommunications company with headquarters in Rome, Milan, and Naples (with the Telecom Italia Tower), which provides fixed, public and mobile telephony, and DSL data services. It is ...

, paid 2.07 billion reais in June 1998 to buy Tele Centro Sul from the Brazilian government as part of the privatization process of Telebrás. In 2001, the company purchased a small stake in the iBest Co. website and launched a portal and free internet access service; at the time, the Marcos Wettreich was the main shareholder in iBest. After some legal wrangling,

and the Brazilian pension funds took control of the company, removing Opportunity from the management of their respective funds and took control of the company in 2005. BrT started up a wireless service in 2004. Brasil Telecom's stock was traded on BM&F Bovespa, where it is part of the Ibovespa index, as well as on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

. In 2008, it was announced that Brasil Telecom would be acquired by Oi.Brasil Telecom
/ref> That transaction required changes in legislation, since legislation at the time prohibited a fixed telephone company from purchasing another fixed telephone company in a different license area. That legislation has since changed, and Oi completed its purchase of BrT on January 9, 2009.

Legal issues

Brasil Telecom, the country's third largest fixed-line operator, and Opportunity, which controlled Brasil Telecom, hired Kroll to determine whether

competed with Brasil Telecom in 2000 in the latter's acquisition of the Brazilian fixed-line phone company Companhia Riograndense de Telecomunicoes ('CRT') from Spain's

Telefónica , S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company with registered office and headquarters located in two different places, both in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the ...

with the purpose of increasing the final price paid by Brasil Telecom for CRT, as both Opportunity and Telecom Italia were struggling for the control of Brasil Telecom. Brasil Telecom and Telecom Italia have been locked in court struggles since 2000. Kroll was accused of spying on Brazilian government officials. Additionally, Opportunity also became involved in legal disputes with the investors in its managed funds, namely some Brazilian pension funds and

, which culminated in Opportunity's removal as the manager of these funds and, ultimately, Opportunity's losing the control of Brasil Telecom (along with other companies controlled by the funds, namely Telemig Celular, Amazonia Celular, Santos Brasil, and Opportrans/Rio de Janeiro's subway operator).

References

External links

The company's home page

The company's web page in English
(down) {{Authority control Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Telecommunications companies of Brazil 1998 establishments in Brazil Companies based in Brasília Defunct companies of Brazil Telecommunications companies established in 1998 Companies formerly listed on B3 (stock exchange)

History

Legal issues

See also

References

External links