GVT picks Vivendi CEO Levy as chairman

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL: GVT named Jean-Bernard Levy, head of the Brazilian phone company's parent company Vivendi, as its chairman and said it would invest up to 850 million reais ($490 million) to expand operations into the country's wealthiest regions.

GVT CEO Amos Genish was elected vice chairman in a vote that took place late on Monday. Vivendi, which will control four of the six seats on the board, owns over 80 percent of Curitiba, Brazil-based GVT.

Next year, GVT plans to launch service in five cities in Brazil's southeast region, the country's richest, and in the northeast. The expansion could be accelerated in five metropolitan areas with significant potential for growth, the statement added.

GVT is a so-called mirror telecom operator in Brazil, an alternative services provider to licensed carriers that uses its own infrastructure. Its coverage spans 79 cities in Brazil's Midwest, southern and northern regions.

The company also has permission to provide local and long- distance services in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte - the largest metropolitan areas in Brazil. When Vivendi first approached GVT in September, its plan was to speed up the company's foray into these cities.

The entry of a new player has long been seen as a welcome opportunity to break the near-stranglehold on broadband in Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous state, held by Telefonica's Telesp unit and rival Net Servicos de Comunicacao.