Global Village Telecom
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| Subsidiary of Telefónica | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Fate | Merged into the Vivo |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Defunct | April 15, 2016 |
| Headquarters | Curitiba, Brazil |
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Key people
|
Amos Genish, (CEO) |
| Revenue |
 US$ 2.0 billion (2012)
|
|
US$ 878.4 million (2012)
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|
|
Number of employees
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17,000 |
| Parent | Telefônica Vivo |
| Website | Official website |
Global Village Telecom (GVT) was a Brazilian telecommunications company that offers services on landline telephone, broadband for both consumer and business, Pay TV and voice over IP. GVT has been in the market since the end of 2000.
Global Village Telecom was founded in April 1998 by a group of Israeli investors led by entrepreneur Joshua Levinberg, who previously founded Gilat Satellite Networks. Their idea was to build a satellite-based phone network for remote locations in South America using the VSAT technology that was developed by Gilat Satellite Networks. The initial investors in the company included: Magnum Technologies Fund, which held 55% of the company, US investment bank Merrill Lynch held 20%, Clal Information Technologies 10%, Discount Investment Corporation 10%, and Gilat Satellite Networks 5%.
During 1998 and 1999 GVT won tenders to build rural phone networks in Colombia,Chile and Peru
In 1999 GVT was awarded a 20 years license to provide fixed-line telecommunications services in Brazil's south and central regions. As part of Brazil's government plan to introduce competition in three fixed-line regions of the country. When it privatized the state telecommunications company, Telebras, in 1998, the government divided Brazil into three regions for fixed-line telephony. Each region was to have one newcomer and an incumbent. In each case, the incumbent was a former unit of Telebras, which was privatized.
The region for which GVT won the license had a population of 38 million people at the time and encompasses nine states, including the country's capital, Brasilia. GVT plan was to invest US$550 million over three years and to build a network with 500,000 lines. GVT was to compete in the region against the former Telebras unit Tele Centro Sul, which was owned by a consortium led by Telecom Italia.
In 2001, GVT was split between Gilat Satellite Networks and the other investors in the company. Gilat took over the Colombia and Peru operations and GVT remained solely focused on the Brazilian market.
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Wikipedia