No Way In For Telemar

Brazilian telcoms regulator Anatel has blocked the acquisition of local cable and internet company Way Brasil by Brazil’s largest telco Telemar. Anatel said Telemar would contravene its fixed-line telephone concession contract if it offered cable TV services in the same regions. The purchase would have given Telemar a foothold in the country’s paid TV market. The telco offered $62.5 million via its mobile phone subsidiary Oi to outbid a subsidiary of Mexico’s Telemex in an auction on São Paulo’s stock exchange, Bovespa, last July. Telemar paid 65% over the asking price of $36.8 million.