Aiming to become a full video and Internet provider in the coming years, Telefónica is preparing a $500 million investment in fibre-based services in Chile.
Investing nearly $3 billion over the last five years in the country, the telco looks to improve its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network, through which it delivers IPTV and broadband services.
“We are to become a full video company within three years. By 2019, we intend to have 900,000 customers connected to fibre (currently half a million), meaning over 80% of our subscribers will be connected to our FTTH network,” explained Roberto Muñoz, general manager, Movistar Chile.
Traditionally focused on mobile services, Chile’s Telefónica unit has recently seen growth in income for fixed services, driven by video. In 2015, the company’s fixed business grew by 5.9% after four years of losses.
“Three years ago, our company’s growing projection was 75% for mobile service and 25% for fixed. In 2015, 77% of Movistar’s growth came from fixed services,” added Muñoz.
Regarding video content distribution, Telefónica has great hopes for Movistar Play, its over-the-top (OTT) video player. Although only launching now in many other Latin American countries, it has been available in Chile since 2013.
“We have over 110,000 subscribers for Movistar Play, and we intend to reach 300,000 by the end of the year. We think it’s a differentiating offer, with a wide video-on-demand (VOD) catalogue and new premieres every month,” concluded Muñoz.