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Private company

Movistar

Logo: Telefónica, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Telecommunication provider

Movistar (Spanish pronunciation: ) is a Spanish major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar Plus+) in Spain. Movistar is the second-largest wireless carrier in Mexico, with 25.8 million subscribers as of January 2020.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Jul 25, 1995Founded1
  • Industrymobile phone industry, telecommunications industry1
  • HeadquartersMadrid1
  • Websitewww.movistar.es
  • Legal formS.A.1

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Movistar (Spanish pronunciation: [moβisˈtaɾ]) is a Spanish major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar Plus+) in Spain. Movistar is the second-largest wireless carrier in Mexico, with 25.8 million subscribers as of January 2020.2

Corporate structure

Movistar is part of a group headed by Telefónica. 85 entities, 14 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

The Movistar brand has been in use in Spain since the launch of GSM services in 1995. The name became effective worldwide on April 5, 2005, after Telefónica purchased the BellSouth mobile operations branch in South America. After the purchase of O2 in 2005 by Telefónica, the company announced that the «O2» brand would continue to be used in the United Kingdom and Germany, as a separate branch with its own board and management structure. Since 2011, Telefónica has sponsored a UCI ProTeam squad in cycling under the name of Movistar Team.

Since 2019, Telefónica has decided to divest all of Movistar's operations in Latin America, with Venezuela being the only country in Latin America who has Movistar and being directly owned by Telefónica (Movistar México is owned by a third-party company who continues to use the Movistar name under a license agreement, and Brazil uses the Vivo brand instead of Movistar).

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

Products and brands

Movistar brand by country

Spain (formerly Telefónica MoviStar)

Venezuela (formerly Telcel and Telcel BellSouth)

Former operations

Argentina (acquired by Telecom Argentina, now operating as Personal due to their merger)

Chile (acquired by Millicom, now operating as Tigo)

Read the full text

Colombia (acquired by Millicom, now operating as Tigo due to their merger)

Costa Rica (acquired by Liberty Latin America, now operating as Liberty)

Ecuador (acquired by Millicom, now operating as Tigo)

El Salvador (acquired by General International Telecom, continues operating the Movistar brand under license agreement with Telefónica)

Guatemala (acquired by América Móvil, now operating as Claro due to their merger)

Mexico (acquired by Oxio and Newfoundland Capital, continues operating the Movistar name under license agreement with Telefónica)

Nicaragua (acquired by Millicom, now operating as Tigo)

Panama (acquired by Millicom, now operating as Tigo)

Peru (acquired by Integra Tec International, now operating as Integratel)

Puerto Rico (acquired by Open Mobile, now operating as T-Mobile US due to their merger)

Uruguay (acquired by Millicom, now operating as Tigo)

Other brands by country

Brazil (formerly Telesp and Telefônica, now under the Vivo brand)

Germany (under the O2 brand)

United Kingdom (under the O2 brand)

Former operations

Czech Republic (under the O2 brand, acquired by PPF and continues operating the O2 brand under license agreement with Telefónica)

Ireland (under the O2 brand, acquired by CK Hutchison Holdings and now operating as Three due to their merger)

Slovakia (under the O2 brand, acquired by PPF and continues operating the O2 brand under license agreement with Telefónica)

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

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. Jul 25, 1995Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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