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Portugal/Brazil: Mega-telco merger to form company 100M strong

By  |  October 2, 2013

A new company based in Brazil will reportedly emerge from the proposed combining of Portugal Telecom with Brazil’s largest fixed-line telco firm Oi, building a conglomerate with 100 million subscribers.

The new company is set to go up against major rivals including Telefonica in Spain and TIM Brasil, owned by Telecom Italia.

Reports say Portugal Telecom will own a 38 percent share in the company, with Oi and some financial backers owning the rest.

In response, the head of Brazil’s communications regulator said he does not anticipate competition concerns regarding the deal.

The nation is in the midst of a potentially major shake-up in the telecommunications market, as Telefonica is looking to have Telecom Italia sell-off its Brazil operations. If this occurs, some experts believe the Brazil operations, TIM Brazil, could be broken up and divided among other local carriers.

Full Content: Reuters

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