Bogota seeks to privatize public telecommunication company ETB
Bogota seeks to privatize public telecommunication company ETB
written by Lyra Bartell May 2, 2016
Mayor Enrique Peñalosa asked Bogota’s city council for permission to sell the government’s stock in telecommunication company ETB, just weeks after the privatization of an energy company caused major protests.
According to Peñalosa, the sale of ETB will allow the financing of projects such as 30 new schools, four hospitals, better roads, and more security cameras throughout Colombia’s capital. The company’s executives hope the sale will generate $2.2 billion for Bogota’s treasury.
ETB suffered losses of over $36 million in 2015 and $38 million in 2014, earning only 6% of the earnings of the four largest telecommunication companies which dominate the industry in Colombia, reported newspaper La Opinion. From 2011 to mid 2015, ETB dropped from maintaining 73% of landlines in Bogota to only 55% due to increased competition by private company’s like Telmex, owned by one of the world’s richest men, Carlos Slim.
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However, for Bogota’s government to pass over their 84.4% ownership of the business would be yet another shift from its usage of private-public partnerships for public services and infrastructure development to full privatization.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/bogotas-mayor-seeks-privatize-telecomunication-company/
