Movistar

Movistar
Product typeTelecommunications
OwnerTelefónica
CountrySpain
Introduced25 July 1995; 31 years ago (1995-07-25)
Discontinued
Related brandsO2
Vivo
Markets
Websitemovistar.com

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.

History

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).

Movistar brand by country

Map of countries where the Movistar brand operates as of 2026
  Current markets
  Markets where the brand is used under a licensing agreement
  Former markets
Movistar stand at the Mobile World Congress.

Former operations

Other brands by country

Former operations

Advertisements

VO70 Class yacht Movistar racing in Leg 1 of the 2005 Volvo Ocean Race in Vigo, Spain

The 1983 song "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves was used by Telefónica to announce the unification of all its operation brands (Telefónica MoviStar, Bellsouth, Unifon, Telefónica Moviles, Telefónica Movil, and Movicom) in Latin America and Spain under the Movistar brand after the takeover of BellSouth's Latin America division. Movistar has also used the New Radicals' hit "You Get What You Give" and "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors. Currently "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train is in advertising and other versions of the song are also used in audiovisual advertisements.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Our Spanish-speaking customers know us as Movistar". telefonica.com. 26 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "La CNMC publica los datos estadísticos de telecomunicaciones" (in Spanish). cnmc.es. 5 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "America Movil contests $63m Mexico fine". Developing Telecoms. 28 January 2020.
  4. ↑ "Telefónica Buys BellSouth Unit". The New York Times. 2004-03-09. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  5. ↑ "Movistar continues as title sponsor of cycling team". SportsPro. 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  6. 1 2 "Telefónica agrees $450m deal to sell Movistar Mexico". TelecomTV. 2026-04-06. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  7. ↑ "Claro "compró" a Movistar en dos países latinoamericanos". Oh My Geek (in Spanish). January 24, 2021.
  8. ↑ Kantrow-Vázquez, Michelle (2011-03-21). "Significant transactions that changed Puerto Rico's wireless landscape in the last decade - News is My Business". newsismybusiness.com. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  9. ↑ Kantrow-Vázquez, Michelle (2017-01-31). "Sprint reportedly finalizing acquisition of Open Mobile - News is My Business". newsismybusiness.com. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  10. ↑ "BNamericas - Sprint, Open Mobile to create new player in ..." BNamericas.com. Retrieved 2026-04-22.