May Day named by Bolivia for Entel takeover

Bolivia has taken a definitive step toward the renationalisation of the country’s largest telecoms company, by ordering the transfer of 47% of Entel stock from a public pension fund to direct government control. President Evo Morales has set 1 May as the deadline for the nationalisation of Entel, Bolivia’s former state telephone company, which was privatised in 1995. Telecom Italia currently holds a controlling 50% stake in the company, while individual private investors own the remaining 3%. Bolivia is negotiating for the purchase of some or all the Italian company’s stake, according to Presidential Minister Juan Ramon Quintana ‘We hope that in the next few days or weeks, the Bolivian government will be able to assume control of the majority share of the stock,’ Quintana said.