Telefonica's Venezuela unit suspends some roaming

CARACAS: The Venezuelan subsidiary of Spain's telecom group Telefonica  said on Thursday it was suspending some of  its roaming services due to shortage of foreign currency to pay providers abroad.

Many local and foreign companies in Venezuela are complaining of a lack of access to dollars due to strict currency controls President Hugo Chavez's government says are in place to prevent speculation and excess capital flight.

"Due to the lack of availability of the necessary foreign currency, we are obliged to temporarily suspend our International Roaming service with some operators in various countries," Telefonica subsidiary Movistar said in a statement.

It did not list the operators, and company officials could not give more details.

Telefonica, the euro zone's biggest telecom by market capitalization, said earlier in August it urgently needed to repatriate $1.8 billion profits from Venezuela.

Venezuela is Telefonica's third-most important market by revenue after Brazil and Argentina.

Like other multinationals in Venezuela, it took a cash hit from a devaluation of the bolivar currency in January, and has had to contend with new foreign exchange controls.

Over the last three years Telefonica has repatriated some $550 million in Movistar earnings. The company is Venezuela's second-largest telephone provider after CANTV.