KKR, a prominent global investment firm that has its arms spanning across multiple countries like in FiberCop in Italy, HyperOptic in the UK, and Open Dutch Fibre in the Netherlands, will now invest in Telefonica, Columbia. With this deal, KKR hopes to establish the first nationwide wholesale infrastructure company of Columbia. As per this new agreement signed between the global investment firm and the Columbian company, KKR will invest a big chunk in Telefonica and will carve out a separate entity in which KKR will be the majority shareholder. On the flipside, with Telefonica as a minority shareholder, both of them will carve out an open-access network through a newly established independent entity.
Open Access Fibre to be Centre of Attraction In the Deal
Very recently, both the companies have come together to deploy ON*NET Fibra as the first open-access wholesale fibre optic network in Chile. Also Grupo Telefónica has announced another joint venture with CDPQ, FiBrasil Infraestructura e Fibra Ótica (FiBrasil). It is worth noting that back in 2019, Telefonica had put out an agenda regarding its business in the Latin American region. This highlighted that Telefonica would be looking towards partnerships as its preferred mode of business in the region.
Fibre to Serve Underserved Areas of Columbia
With the investment from KKR Telefonica’s open-access fibre network would be able to expand connectivity from 1.2 million homes today to at least 4.3 million homes by the end of 2024. This coverage is substantial since it will be covering 87 municipal areas of Columbia, with a lot of them being underserved and unserved. The open-access network would mean that the joint venture company would be able to sell its services to other telecom companies in the region. Even the retail arm of Telefonica would be able to extend the services to the end consumers. Waldemar Szlezak, a senior leader of KKR’s infrastructure investment remarked that the investment firm is thrilled to join hands with Telefonica to build this open access fibre network. KKR will also be taking help from Scotiabank and Bank Street as financial co-advisors in this venture.
