Expansion
After spinning off América Móvil, Telmex started an expansion plan, which started with the purchase of Guatemala's Telgua. Later, Telmex bought former state-owned phone companies in Central America, and began operations in the US with Telmex USA.
In 2004, Telmex went into a shopping spree for undervalued operators in South America, including the purchase of AT&T's Latin American operations, giving it presence in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, and increased reach in the United States. In the same year, Telmex bought from MCI Brazil's largest and most important long-distance operator, Embratel, acquired Chile's Chilesat, took control of Argentina's Techtel (operating in Argentina and Uruguay), of which it already owned 60%, by purchasing the remaining 40% from the Techint group, and purchased Argentina's Metrored. In the US, Telmex bought 13.4% of bankrupt MCI.
At the same time, sister company America Movil pursued a similar strategy by acquiring cellular operators CTI Movil in Argentina and Uruguay, Claro in Brazil and Peru, Porta in Ecuador and Comcel in Colombia.
In 2005, Telmex sold its holdings in MCI to Verizon.
As of January 2006, Telmex continued buying assets in Latin America and in the USA.
In March 2006, there were rumors that Telmex was buying Verizon operations in the Caribbean. The reports said that the operation can include the wireless operation on each market. The total amount of this sale was estimated at nearly US$300 million.
In November 2006, an American embassy cable listed Telmex as among "Mexico's monopolists", with a 95% share of landlines. Its sister company Telcel was listed with a market share of 80% of cellular service.[9][10]
In December 2006, Telmex announced agreement to acquire TV Cable and Cable Pacifico in Colombia. TV Cable offers cable television, Internet and Voice over IP services and has been in operation for 20 years. As of 2013, the company serves 164,000 homes in Bogotá and Cali. Cable Pacifico serves nine states and its main operation is in Medellín. As of 2013, Cable Pacifico has approximately 100,000 subscribers.
In January 2007, America Movil bought the Verizon operations in Puerto Rico, and days later Telmex and America Movil announced that their equally owned joint venture had agreed with Verizon Communications Inc. ("Verizon") to terminate the joint venture's agreement to acquire Verizon's indirect equity interests in Compañía Anónima Nacional Teléfonos de Venezuela (CANTV); subsequently, all of Verizon's holdings in CANTV were acquired in May 2007 by the Venezuelan government, reaching 86.2% of its total shares.
In January 2007, Telmex launched Prodigy Media, the first step to offer triple play services to the Mexican market. Days later, Telmex started the first Wi-Max network in Chile, offering local, long-distance and Internet services to 98% of the Chilean population.
In March 2007, Telmex bought Ecutel, a small telecommunications company in Ecuador that offers services to the corporate market.
In April 2007, Telmex announced agreement to acquire CABLECENTRO and SATELCARIBE in Colombia. CABLECENTRO offers cable TV and Internet access services and has been in operation for 7 years. Currently, the company operates in more than 50 cities in Colombia including Bogota, Cucuta, Bucaramanga, Ibague and Neiva, among others. SATELCARIBE offers cable TV and Internet access services and has been in operation for 7 years. Currently, the company operates in more than 15 cities in Colombia.
In December 2007, Telmex transferred its Latin American and yellow pages directory businesses to a new, separate entity, Telmex Internacional.
