• Telefónica Móviles Chile seeks to lower the digital gap by reducing the large upfront cost for customers purchasing smartphone devices

IDB Invest, the private sector institution of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, grants an up to $100 million uncommitted revolving facility to support Telefónica Móviles Chile handset financing program. The program supports the acquisition of mobile handsets sold by Telefónica Móviles Chile by providing customers with the possibility of financing their smartphones.  

This is the first time this financing is implemented in Chile. The operation is aimed at closing the digital gap by lowering the upfront costs of purchasing mobile handsets and increasing access to mobile broadband services. Smartphones are the entry point to mobile broadband, which provides consumers with access to multiple digital services, such as mobile banking, health and transportation.

The project has a tenor of a total of six years, which is well above the average. The up to $100 million uncommitted revolving facility has the purpose of purchasing from Telefónica Móviles Chile eligible receivables arising from the sale of mobile devices from the company to its customers.

About IDB Invest
IDB Invest, the private sector institution of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, is a multilateral development bank committed to supporting Latin America and the Caribbean businesses. It finances sustainable enterprises and projects to achieve financial results that maximize economic, social and environmental development for the region. With a current portfolio of $11.2 billion under management and 330 clients in 23 countries, IDB Invest works across sectors to provide innovative financial solutions and advisory services that meet the evolving demands of its clients. As of November 2017, IDB Invest is the trade name of the Inter-American Investment Corporation.

About Telefónica Móviles Chile
Telefonica Móviles Chile is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telefónica S.A. (“Telefonica”) and offers competitive communication services through the Movistar brand, including mobile telephony, fixed telephony, interconnection services, fixed and mobile broadband, Pay TV, and digital services to individual and corporate clients. In mobile telephony, Movistar is one of four Mobile Network Operators (“MNOs”) in the market with approximately 29% of market share and 8.8 million mobile subscribers as of June 2018. The Company offers mobile services in Third-Generation Cellular Technology (“3G”) and Fourth-Generation Cellular Technology Long-Term Evolution (“4G/LTE”), both prepaid and postpaid. In order to promote mobile broadband usage, Movistar offers handset financing to its postpaid subscribers whereby clients pay monthly installments to purchase the smartphones.