The company originally had a state monopoly on telecommunications in East Timor. The monopoly was lifted by the government in 2010 in response to overwhelming public opinion in favour of liberalisation.
Shareholdings
As of December 2019[update], the largest shareholder of the company (54.01%) was Telecomunicações Públicas de Timor, S.A. (TPT),[2] which was controlled by Investel Communications, a Brazilian company[3] owned by Timorese businessman Abilio Araújo[de], with partners and capital from the Middle East and China.[4]
The shareholders of TPT were Investel (76%), the Harii Foundation – Sociedade para o Desenvolvimento de Timor-Leste (linked to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baucau) (18%), and Fundação Oriente (6%).[3][5]
Investel held a further 3.05% of TT via another company, PT Participações SGPS, S.A.[2][3] The remaining shareholders in TT were the State of Timor-Leste (20.59%), VDT Holding Limited, a Macau-based company (17.86%) and East Timorese businessman Júlio Alfaro (4.49%).[2][5]
On 17 October 2002, the Timor Telecom consortium was transformed into Timor Telecom, S.A., the first corporation to be formed in the newly independent East Timor.[1] Under the concession agreement, TT was granted a monopoly on telecommunications in East Timor for a term of 15 years.[6]
By 1 March 2003, the company had created East Timor's first national telecommunications network, and set up its country code, +670. On that day, the company began operating the network in Dili, Lospalos, Baucau and Oecusse. By the end of 2003, landline, mobile and internet services were available on the network, and the company had opened its first store in Dili. The following year, the company started operating a telecommunications station on Atauro, and opened stores in Baucau and Gleno.[7]
In 2005, further stores followed in Maliana, Suai and Pante Macassar. In 2006, independent East Timor's first phone book appeared. The following year, 2007, the first yellow pages were published (also online) and voice mail was first offered.[7] By 2008, the company had 125,000 mobile customers.[1] In 2009, it engaged ZTE, a Chinese equipment supplier, to expand its mobile telecommunications system and establish Wideband CDMA.[8]
In March 2010, the East Timorese government approved a new telecommunications policy, under which telecommunications would be liberalised. TT's monopoly was to be ended in response to overwhelming public opinion in favour of liberalisation, and in line with developments in the European Union and other countries in the Pacific such as South Korea.[6] In 2012, the government and the company signed an agreement for the early end of the monopoly.[1]
On 2 October 2013, Portugal Telecom and Oi, S.A., a Brazilian telecommunications company, announced that they would combine operations to form a new Brazil-based business.[9] In 2015, the merged company's assets in Portugal were sold to Altice[10] to reduce debt; the merged company retained its interests in TT.[11][12] In June 2016, Oi filed for a US$19 billion (R$65 billion) bankruptcy protection, the largest on record for Brazil.[13] In December 2016, Oi sought approval from a Rio de Janeiro district court to sell its stake in TT to Investec,[4] and in March 2017 the court gave its approval, subject to an assessment that the amount Investec had offered was appropriate.[3]
Meanwhile, TT, now operating under the new liberalised telecommunications policy, expanded its range of services and steeply reduced its prices.[1] In 2013, it introduced three new customer plans, completed the renovation of all of its existing stores, and opened a new call centre at Timor Plaza[de]. Since then, the company has introduced new technologies, including an improved internet concept and a high speed internet mobile service.[7]
In May 2023, Oi sold the majority stake it held in Timor Telecom for US$21.1 million to the Timorese government. Control of Timor Telecom was exercised by the companiesː TPT, which owned 54.01% of the company's shares, and PT Participações, with 3.05%. Both are controlled (TPT) or wholly owned (PT) by Oi. With the sale, the State of Timor-Leste increased its stake in the company from 20.59% to 77.65%.[14]
Services and coverage
TT offers landline and mobile voice and internet services, under a variety of plans.[15][16]As of 2015[update], the company covered about 94% of East Timor's population with mobile network and internet services, and had about 632,500 customers for those services.[1]
Dili is the capital and largest city of East Timor. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountains. The climate is tropical, with distinct wet and dry seasons. The city has served as the economic hub and chief port of what is now East Timor since its designation as the capital of Portuguese Timor in 1769. It also serves as the capital of the Dili Municipality, which includes some rural subdivisions in addition to the urban ones that make up the city itself. Dili's growing population is relatively youthful, being mostly of working age. The local language is Tetum; however, residents include many internal migrants from other areas of the country.
In East Timor, transportation is reduced due to the nation's poverty, poor transportation infrastructure.
Vivo, known as Vivo Brazil, is a brand of Telefônica Brasil, a subsidiary of Telefónica and the largest telecommunications company in Brazil. It is headquartered in the Brooklin Novo neighborhood of São Paulo.
Oi, formerly known as Telemar, is the largest fixed telephone operator and the fourth mobile telephone operator in Brazil, being the third largest telecommunication company in Latin America. It is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.
Brasil Telecom S.A. was a major Brazilian telecommunications company headquartered in the Brazilian capital of Brasília. The company was one of three landlines and eight mobile telephone companies – and only long-distance service provider – that emerged in Brazil following the break-up of Telebrás. Originally the company was called Tele Centro Sul, because its service covered the states in the central and southern parts of Brazil, namely Acre, Rondônia, Goiás, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, as well as the Distrito Federal. Since 9 January 2009, the company is a subsidiary of Oi.
Altice Portugal S.A. is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Since 2 June 2015 the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Altice, a multinational cable and telecommunications company with a presence in France, Israel, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, French West Indies/Indian Ocean Area, the Dominican Republic, and Switzerland. The assets in Portugal were sold to Altice in 2015 per request of Oi SA to reduce debt. The African assets were mostly sold for the same reason. Portugal Telecom, SGPS SA was split in separate companies: PT Portugal and Pharol, which owns a 27.5% stake in Oi.
East Timor was a province of Indonesia between 1976 and 1999, during the Indonesian occupation of the country. Its territory corresponded to the previous Portuguese Timor and to the present-day independent country of East Timor.
The Catholic Church in Timor-Leste is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome.
Dili Airport, officially Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport, and formerly Comoro Airport, is an international airport serving Dili, the capital city of East Timor. Since 2002, the airport has been named after Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (1946–1978), an East Timorese politician and national hero.
The Timor-Leste Football Federation is the governing body of football in East Timor.
East Timorese Portuguese, or Nusantaran Portuguese, is the variety of the Portuguese language spoken in Timor-Leste. It is one of the official languages of Timor-Leste alongside Tetum. As with other Lusophone countries besides Brazil, the Portuguese language curriculum in East Timor is based on European Portuguese, with some localisations in pronunciation. East Timor is the only sovereign state in Asia with Portuguese as an official language. There is a growing demand for Portuguese-language courses in the country, both at early-learning and tertiary levels of education.
Until September 1999, East Timor formed part of the Indonesian numbering plan, using the country code +62, followed by area codes for the two largest cities, Dili (390) and Baucau (399). Following the violence in the wake of Indonesia's departure from the territory, most of the telecommunications infrastructure was destroyed, and Telkom Indonesia withdrew its services from East Timor.
Baucau Airport, formerly Cakung Airport, is an unattended and mostly unused airport near Baucau, East Timor. It is the largest airport in East Timor and has a much longer runway than Dili's Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport, long enough to handle large commercial airliners.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Maliana is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in East Timor. The newest of the country's three dioceses, it was established in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. It serves nearly 300,000 Catholics in the municipalities of Bobonaro, Cova Lima, and Liquiçá, covering a total area of 3,142 km2. The current bishop since the diocese's founding is Norberto do Amaral.
Basílio do Nascimento Martins was the East Timorese Roman Catholic Bishop of Baucau.
TIM Brasil Serviços e Participações S.A., commonly known as TIM Brasil, is a Brazilian telecommunications company, subsidiary of Telecom Italia Finance S.A., which provides mobile and fixed telephony services.
Taça Digicel was a football championship organized by the East Timor Football Federation. It was replaced by Taça 12 de Novembro in 2013.
Zeinal Abedin Mohamed Bava, was chief executive officer of Oi until October 7, 2014, when he resigned.
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