Private company

ANTEL

Logo: Administración Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Uruguay), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³

Government-owned telecommunications company in Uruguay

The Administración Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ANTEL, literally "National Administration of Telecommunications") is Uruguay's government-owned telecommunications company, founded in 1974 as a separate legal entity after spinning off the telecommunications division of UTE, which had the monopoly of landline telephony since 1931. The company has a monopoly of landline telephony and data services in the country.² It is headquartered in Montevideo.¹ It employed 5,050 people in 2023.¹ Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Jul 25, 1974Founded¹

Industrytelecommunications industry¹
HeadquartersMontevideo¹
Websitewww.antel.com.uy
Legal formDecentralized service¹

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The Administración Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ANTEL, literally "National Administration of Telecommunications") is Uruguay's government-owned telecommunications company, founded in 1974 as a separate legal entity after spinning off the telecommunications division of UTE, which had the monopoly of landline telephony since 1931. The company has a monopoly of landline telephony and data services in the country. They also provide mobile phone services (in direct competition with Claro and Movistar) and Internet-related services, being the only provider of ADSL and land-line data services because of the monopoly situation.²

Corporate structure

ANTEL sits at the top of its group. 2 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

ANTEL Montevideo
- Ancel Subsidiary · Montevideo
- Antel Arena Owned · Montevideo, Uruguay

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What ANTEL reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

Antel Arena

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.¹

The story

In 1992, under the presidency of Luis Alberto Lacalle, a privatization of all government-owned companies was attempted. However, a later referendum revoked the privatization law, Pluna being the only company to be successfully privatized to Varig. Antel enjoys a monopoly on land lines in Uruguay, including voice-only lines as well as DSL and fiber internet.

In 2015, it took over Ancel, which had previously been a standalone cell service provider.

Antel started deploying fiber to the home in Montevideo in 2012, aiming to switch 240,000 clients that year with a cost of US$180 million. Previous DSL subscribers keep their contract, or may switch to faster Internet Vera plans: 150/12 Mbit/s for US$72/month, 120/12 Mbit/s for $61/month, 60/10 Mbit/s for $49/month, or 30/4 Mbit/s for $32/month, throttled back to 10% of those speeds after a 700 / 350 / 400 / 150 GB cap. IP television, voice over IP and connections in the department capitals are expected for 2013 and 2014.

From Wikipedia’s article on ANTEL, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.⁴

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

Ancel

Also owns

Antel Arena

From Wikidata.¹

Employees over time

20235,050¹

Controversies and legal

Controversies

Antel has been involved in high profile and somewhat controversial investments, notably a) the purchase of the Telecommunications Tower (Montevideo), the most expensive corporate headquarters in Uruguay for US$102,000,000 and b) more recently (April 2013) the announcement of a planned investment of US$40,000,000 in a sports arena.

In 2020, the LGBT film festival Llamale H sued Antel because the company didn't allow the storage of the festival contents, alleging that they don't fit the values of the company. The LGBT collective denounced discriminatory behavior by Antel.