Portugal Telecom

Infobox_Company
company_name = Portugal Telecom
company_
company_type = Public company Euronext|PTC nyse|PT
company_slogan =
foundation = 1994
location = flagicon|Portugal Lisbon, Portugal
num_employees = 32 058 (2006)
industry = Telecommunications
products = Telecommunications
revenue = profit € 6,343 billion (2006)
net_income = profit € 867 million (2006)
operation_income = profit € 1,214 billion (2006)
parent =
subsid = Páginas Amarelas, S.A. PT Comunicações PT.COM TMN, S.A. Vivo
homepage = [http://www.telecom.pt/InternetResource/PTSite/UK/ Portugal Telecom]
foot_notes =

Portugal Telecom (PT) is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Although it operates mainly in Portugal and Brazil, it has also a significant presence in Morocco, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Angola, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Due to its large market share, Portugal Telecom is considered a "de-facto" monopoly in fixed telephony in Portugal.

History

The first telephone experiments in Portugal connected Carcavelos to the Central do Cabo in Lisbon, in 1877. In 1882, the Edison Gower Bell Telephone Company of Europe Limited was set up in Lisbon and Porto, to explore the respective telephone service concessions. In 1887, the concession was transferred to APT - The Anglo Portuguese Telephone Company, which was kept by the latter until 1968, the year in which the Public Company "Telefones de Lisboa e Porto" (TLP) was created. The Post Office, Telegraphs and Telephones (CTT) explored until this present day, the telephone service in the rest of the country. For the exploration of radiotelegraphy and wireless telephone, a contract with the Marconi's Wireless Telegraphy Company concession was confirmed in 1922. In 1925, the "Companhia Portuguesa Rádio Marconi" (CPRM) was set up and took on all responsibilities of the previous concession. In 1970, CTT became a Public Company and in 1989, the TLP was transformed into a Limited Company, and was completely controlled by the State. In 1992, "Teledifusora de Portugal" (TDP) was created with the mission of exploring the infrastructures of Teledifusão.

In 1992, CTT became a Limited Company with public capital and the Comunicações Nacionais, SPGS, SA (CN) was created, a state holding company responsible for the managing of all State participation within the sector - CTT, TLP, CPRM e TDP. In this same year, the Telecommunications developed by CTT was automatized through the creation of Portugal Telecom, SA, giving CTT the possibility to dedicate itself exclusively to the Post Office. With this, Portugal had its own telecommunications network which was being explored by 3 operators: the TLP explored the telephone services in the Lisbon and Porto areas, Telecom Portugal was responsible for the remaining national, European and Mediterranean communications; and Marconi took hold of international traffic. In 1994, a unique national telecommunications operator was created with the fusion of companies within the CN State holding - Portugal Telecom, SA (PT) with the fusion of Telecom Portugal, TLP and TDP.

Portugal Telecom was the only telephone operator in Portugal, being a monopoly, until 1994, when the government gradually retired its control over the corporation and in 2000 Portugal Telecom became a publicly owned company. Since then, it has held a dominant position in the liberalized Portuguese market.

In early 2007, Portuguese company Sonae's takeover offer over Portugal Telecom failed. PT's board rejected an initial bid, worth EUR11.1bn, in February 2006. Sonae.com's takeover bid opposed Belmiro de Azevedo (founder and historical chairman of Sonae holding company) and his son Paulo Azevedo (then the head officer of Sonae.com telecommunications operator) to the investor José Berardo and PT's administrators Zeinal Bava and Henrique Granadeiro. In April 2007 the European Commission gave an ultimatum to the Portuguese Government ordering it to give up on the 500 golden shares pack that it owned on the company and that enable special veto powers to the government on vital issues. This could give the government a decisive role in the bid by any company to buy Portugal Telecom. In November 2007, Portugal Telecom spun-off its media assets (PT Multimédia), that included TV Cabo and Lusomundo Cinemas. In January 2008, the European Commission began legal proceedings against the Portuguese Government over its 'golden share' in incumbent telecoms operator Portugal Telecom. The 500 golden shares with extended voting rights, allowing it to block potential takeover bids, were the reason for the Commission's legal action. Similarly, in November 2005, the Commission had forced the Spanish Government to give up its golden share in the other telecommunications' major player in the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica.

PT companies

Portugal Telecom owns [ [http://www.telecom.pt/InternetResource/PTSite/UK/Canais/Investidores/Grupo/EmpresasPT/empresaspt.htm PT companies] ] PT Comunicações, the largest landline operator in Portugal; Meo, an triple play service provider; Telecomunicações Móveis Nacionais, SA, the largest mobile phone operator in Portugal; one of the largest shared services company in Europe (PT PRO); SAPO, an Internet service provider; Páginas Amarelas, S.A., the publisher of the Portuguese Yellow Pages edition and Vivo, the largest mobile phone network in Brazil.

Ownership

Portugal Telecom is a publicly owned company. As of February 26, 2008, major stockholders include [ [http://www.telecom.pt/InternetResource/PTSite/UK/Canais/Investidores/Grupo/ParticipacoesQualificadas/partqual.htm Portugal Telecom main shareholders and geographical distribution of the shareholder base] ] :

*Brandes Investments Partners: 9.65%
*Telefónica: 9.16%
*Espírito Santo Financial Group: 7.79%
*Caixa Geral de Depósitos: 6.37%
*Ongoing Strategy Investments: 5.89%
*Telmex: 3.75%
*Fidelity: 2.30%
*Barclays: 2.26%
*Grupo Visabeira: 2.21%
*Deutsche Bank: 2.08%
*Credit Suisse: 2.07%

Additionally, the Portuguese government owns 500 golden shares, which carry special rights over the company's management decisions [ [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/0a51e156-bd5e-11db-b5bd-0000779e2340.html Sonaecom lifts Portugal Telecom bid] , "Financial Times", February 16, 2007] .

Notes

External links

* [http://www.telecom.pt/InternetResource/PTSite/UK/ Portugal Telecom]