Claro (Dominican Republic)

Compañía Dominicana de Teléfonos
Claro
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryCommunications Services
Founded1930; 95 years ago (1930)[1]
HeadquartersSanto Domingo,
Dominican Republic
Key people
Carlos Cueto, President
ProductsBroadband Internet services, Local wireline and wireless telecommunication services
ParentAmérica Móvil
Websiteclaro.com.do

Claro (formerly CODETEL) is the largest telecommunications company in the Dominican Republic and provides local, long-distance, and wireless voice services, as well as Internet and IPTV services, to approximately four million customers.

History

Logo used pre-Verizon Dominicana

Until 1930, telephone service had been administered by the government, but when the Hurricane San Zenon destroyed all the facilities, the Dominican government granted exclusive franchise for telecommunications services to the Anglo Canadian Telephone Company on November 11, 1930.[2]

CODETEL began in the Dominican Republic in 1932 as a subsidiary of the U.S. firm General Telephone & Electric Corporation, and held a de facto monopoly until the mid-1990s, when Tricom began operations.[3] After the Dominican government passed Law 153 in 1998 providing for effective liberalization and improved pro-competition regulation, new entrants had eroded CODETEL's predominant position with the incumbent capturing only 50% of the international traffic to the United States (accounting for 70% of the total international traffic).[4] In 2000 Verizon was formed after a merger by Bell Atlantic and GTE, with CODETEL continuing operations as a subsidiary of the new company. In December 2003, CODETEL announced the commercial launch of its Flash Movil 3G network, a CDMA2000 1X voice and high-speed data network using equipment, software and services from Lucent Technologies.[5]

Verizon Dominicana

Previously known as CODETEL (Compañía Dominicana de Teléfonos), the name change was announced February 2, 2004, at the National Theater of Santo Domingo in a ceremony to welcome the Verizon brand to the country. Verizon Dominicana was an independent country bought by Codetel and now is Claro.

Logo and slogan used until 2011

América Móvil buyout

On April 3, 2006, Verizon agreed to sell its stakes in Verizon Dominicana along with Telecomunicaciones de Puerto Rico Inc. (TELPRI) in Puerto Rico to Carlos Slim Helú's group América Móvil for $3.7 billion.[6] On January 31, 2007, the company's new owner América Móvil announced that the CODETEL brand would be used for its landline services and Claro for mobile services.

Present

On February 27, 2009, CODETEL launched Claro TV, a digital TV service based on Microsoft Mediaroom for urban areas and Direct To Home Satellite for rural areas.[7] On January 20, 2011, Oscar Peña, the company's president, announced the company's brands would be unified and would become Claro as a part of a global unification across Latin America, where América Móvil's services are under the Claro brand.[8]

On March 21, 2012, Claro announced the availability of Fiber to the Home plans for consumers.[9]

Services

Consumer

Claro Multiplan offers Telephone, Internet, and IPTV services. The bundles also include discounts on mobile Internet and mobile TV.

Internet

Claro provides Broadband Internet access to its customers over fixed ADSL2+, Fiber to the Home and mobile UMTS/HSPA. Speeds offered over Fiber are 20/2 (under a multiplan) and 100/5 (standalone).[10]

As of August 2013, Fiber to the Home service is currently available in Altos de Arroyo Hondo II (Cerros de Arroyo Hondo, Cuesta Hermosa II, Isabel Villas, Altos de Arroyo Hondo II), La Julia, Evaristo Morales, La Esperilla, Naco, Serrallés, Paraíso, Los Cacicazgos, Julieta Morales, El Vergel, Piantini, Bella Vista, Viejo Arroyo Hondo, La Castellana, Nuevo Arroyo Hondo, Quisqueya, Urbanización Renacimiento, Urbanización Real, Mirador Norte, Arroyo Hondo III, Mirador Sur, Res. Carmen María, and Los Millones in Santo Domingo and in Cerros de Gurabo I and II, Quinta de Pontezuela, Las Carmelitas, and La Trinitaria in Santiago.

Speeds offered for fixed ADSL2+ internet on standalone plans[11] and on Multiplans[12] are as follows:

ADSL2+
Multiplan Standalone
Download Upload Download Upload
512kbit/s 256kbit/s 1Mbit/s 256kbit/s
1Mbit/s 256kbit/s 1.5Mbit/s 256kbit/s
1.5Mbit/s 256kbit/s 2Mbit/s 512kbit/s
2Mbit/s 1Mbit/s 3Mbit/s 768kbit/s
3Mbit/s 768kbit/s 4Mbit/s 1Mbit/s
5Mbit/s 1Mbit/s 6Mbit/s 1Mbit/s
8Mbit/s 1Mbit/s
10Mbit/s 1Mbit/s

As of September 2012, Claro's Multiplan download speeds can be doubled for an additional monthly cost.

Claro's mobile internet packages are as follows:[13]

Type Data allowance Time Active
Postpaid 100MB N/A
Postpaid 500MB N/A
Postpaid 3GB N/A
Postpaid 5GB N/A
Postpaid 10GB N/A
Prepaid 200MB 1 Day
Prepaid 350MB 3 Days
Prepaid 700MB 7 Day
Prepaid 1.5GB 15 Days
Prepaid 3GB 30 Days
Prepaid 6GB 60 Days

Television

Claro offers fixed television services over Microsoft Mediaroom and satellite.[14] It also provides mobile television services over Rok TV.[15] Mobile television services are offered as daily and monthly packages.

Telephony

Claro offers fixed landline telephone services as well as services over CDMA 1xEV-DO in 800/1900 MHz, GSM/GPRS/EDGE in 850/1900 MHz, and 3G UMTS/HSPA service on the 850 MHz band.

Enterprise

Claro offers their enterprise customers mobile and fixed telephone, mobile, fixed, dedicated, and satellite Internet, satellite tv, Internet backhaul, colocation, web hosting, IPTV, equipment rental, and SMS services.

Management

The current president of Claro Dominican Republic is Ing. Rogelio Viesca Arrache.

Notes

  1. ^ "1920–1930". Historia de las Telecomunicaciones. Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Institutional". Claro República Dominicana. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  3. ^ "1990–1995". Historia de las Telecomunicaciones. Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  4. ^ "Institutions, Performance, and the Financing of Infrastructure Services in the Caribbean" (PDF), World Bank, retrieved June 4, 2011
  5. ^ "Codetel and Lucent launch 3G mobile network in Dominican Republic", 3GNewsRoom, archived from the original on June 27, 2009, retrieved June 4, 2011
  6. ^ "Verizon to sell offLatin units", International Herald Tribune, archived from the original on September 29, 2008, retrieved June 4, 2011
  7. ^ "Codetel lanza televisión digital", Listin Diario (in Spanish), retrieved February 27, 2009
  8. ^ "Claro Deja de ser Codetel", Audiencia Electronica (in Spanish), retrieved June 4, 2011
  9. ^ Hipólito Delgado (March 21, 2012), Conoce todo sobre la Fibra Óptica de Claro (in Spanish), retrieved August 24, 2012
  10. ^ "Fibra Óptica", Claro (in Spanish), archived from the original on April 24, 2013, retrieved May 8, 2012
  11. ^ "Internet Fijo", Claro (in Spanish), archived from the original on August 20, 2012, retrieved August 24, 2012
  12. ^ "Multiplan Claro", Claro (in Spanish), archived from the original on April 8, 2011, retrieved August 24, 2012
  13. ^ "Internet Móvil", Claro (in Spanish), archived from the original on April 9, 2011, retrieved June 5, 2011
  14. ^ "Claro TV", Claro (in Spanish), archived from the original on April 13, 2011, retrieved June 5, 2011
  15. ^ "IdeasTV", Claro (in Spanish), retrieved June 5, 2011