Movistar

Movistar (moβisˈtaɾ) is a 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+) in Spain. Movistar is the second-largest wireless carrier in Mexico, with 25.8 million subscribers as of January 2020. 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 . Argentina (formerly Telefónica Unifón and Movicom BellSouth) Chile (formerly Telefónica Móvil and BellSouth) Colombia (formerly Telefónica Telecom, Telecom, BellSouth, Cocelco, CeluMovil) Ecuador (formerly CelularPower, BellSouth) El Salvador (formerly Telefónica Móviles or Telefónica MoviStar) Mexico (formerly Cedetel, Bajacel, Movitel, Norcel and Pegaso) Peru (formerly Telefónica Móviles and BellSouth) Spain (formerly Telefónica MoviStar) Uruguay (formerly Telefónica Unifón and Movicom BellSouth) Venezuela (formerly Telcel and Telcel BellSouth) Antarctica Guatemala (acquired by América Móvil, now operating as Claro) Costa Rica (acquired by Liberty Latin America, now operating as LIBERTY) Brazil (formerly Telesp and Telefônica, now under the Vivo brand) Germany (under the O2 brand) United Kingdom (under the O2 brand) 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) 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.