Chile Entel sells fiber optic business to KKR and Telefónica partnership

In a few months, the Chilean Entel managed to sell its fiber optic division. In March of this year, the telecommunications company confirmed that it was making its fiber infrastructure network available to the market and this Saturday it explained that it had already reached an agreement with an entity.

Through an essential fact sent to the Commission for the Financial Market (CMF), Entel indicated that it signed with “OnNet Fibra”, controlled 60% by KKR and 40% by Telefónica Chile, a framework agreement for the sale of assets for sell all the assets that make up Entel’s fiber optic infrastructure business line for Home Internet services in Chile.

According to the company, the operation, estimated at approximately 360 million dollars, considers 1.2 million real estate units passed through fiber optics, which in turn includes an agreement to sign a contract for the provision of connectivity to continue offering Home Internet services over the OnNet network with a joint coverage of approximately 3.9 million real estate units passed through fiber optics, once the transaction is approved and certain operational integrations have been carried out, and of 4.3 million by 2024, as well as other complementary contracts.

The transaction is subject to the approval of the concentration operation that the Transaction entails by the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office (FNE). Regarding the fiber in Peru, the company detailed to the regulator that it will continue analyzing the different alternatives for the best development of the business in that country.

“In a highly competitive environment, this operation allows us to significantly strengthen our fiber optic coverage at the national level, which is a strategic focus of the company, in this case on a shared and high-quality network, giving us almost immediate access, once the approvals have been obtained and the integration completed, to a coverage of 3.9 million homes passed, to reach at least 4.3 million by 2024. With this, we will be able to give a strong boost to our offer to the Home and Business market, especially to the medium and small ones”, specified the general manager of Entel, Antonio Büchi.

José Miguel Torres, general manager of ON*NET Fibra, pointed out that “the transaction accelerates ON*Net Fibra’s mission of providing an open and neutral fiber optic infrastructure that promotes competition in the market for the benefit of families and companies in the the whole country”.

According to the company, the fiber optic infrastructure is key to the digitization of the country, since it is not only classified as relevant for fixed connectivity, but also offers the highest speed, stability and security in data transmission for the mobile world.