<A href="http://www.convergencialatina.com/noticia.php?id=121088">Rumors revealed by mid November were confirmed. Entel and GTD experienced the greatest market shake-up in 2011, thus anticipating VTR entry to the mobile market. At an essential action sent to the Superintendencia de Valores y Seguros, SVS (Superintendence of Stock and Securities), Entel, controlled by the group Almendral, and Grupo GTD, belonging to the entrepreneur Juan Manuel Casanueva, announced the merger agreement.

Companies want to complete the process before December 23. Entel would take over the eight subsidiaries of Grupo GTD –Teleductos, Telesat, GTD Internet, GTD Larga Distancia, GTD Imagen and GTD Manquegue, Compañía Nacional de Teléfonos, Telefónica del Sur (Telsur) and Compañía de Teléfonos Coyhaique (Telcoy). Additionally, GTD through Inversiones El Coigüe, will receive 9.8% of Entel's property once merged.

Although financial details of the operations were not disclosed, GTD is estimated to acquire a 9.8% which is valued at US$432 million.

Entel and GTD merger takes place in the prelude to 2012, a year that promises changes in the sector due to three fundamental factors: entry of VTR and Nextel in mobile phone services, scheduled for first quarter (although VTR already tests mobile broadband); the beginning of number portability (that will have test run on December 5 in Arica); and the delivery of frequencies for LTE.

Both Chilean companies have different interests in the merger, although there is an evident common cause in the fact that they are the largest local companies in the sector, against the development of the foreign capital represented by Movistar, Caro and VTR (80% belonging to the American company Liberty Global).

To Entel, the acquisition of the eight subsidiaries of the Grupo GTD means a shortcut to pay TV –that it was even assessing to provide with DTH– and to strengthening the delivery of services for residential world, especially with VTR moving with an eventual Quadruple Play.

GTD has two key capitals in this sense: on the one hand, its pioneer experience in FTTH in Santiago, dated 2006, and it is the mostly developed in interactive services in Chile, with 9000 customers in last August; on the other hand, IPTV from Telsur (company acquired by GTD in January 2010), that reaches the 42,091 subscribers as of close of 2011.

Casanueva’s firm has already been showing signs of expansion that came to an end with the agreement with Entel. In August, it entered the mobile world as MVNO, over Movistra’s networks, and it has even suggested a possible expansion of its businesses to Colombia.

Conditions. Merger process will have two conditions. First, GTD could have a representative in Entel’s Board –made up by nine executives. Then, during a two-year period, Casanueva’s firm will be entitled to choose two directors of the seven making up Telsur and Telcoy.