WOM (Chile)

WOM S.A.
Company typePublic
IndustryTelecommunication
Founded1999 (1999) as Nextel Chile, July 7, 2015 (2015-07-07) as WOM
HeadquartersGeneral Mackenna 1369,
Santiago
,
Chile
SubsidiariesWOM Colombia
Websitehttps://www.wom.cl

WOM S.A. (previously known as Nextel Chile) is a Chilean telecommunications company. The company mainly provides mobile telephony, Internet service, television service and media streaming.[1]

History

Nextel Chile

Nextel Chile was founded in 1999 as a subsidiary of the American telecommunications company Nextel.[2] It's intention to offer services as a mobile operator garnered negative reactions from the dominant mobile operators in Chile, who threatend to take legal action against it.[2] Due to this, Nextel Chile only started offering mobile telephony in 2008, although it offered navigation through WAP, voice communication and text messaging before that.[3] On those years, it focused primarily on an audience linked to the business world.[4][5] Between 2010 and 2012, the company was considered one of the best companies to work in within Chile.[6] It was known at the time for being the only one to provide a push-to-talk service, which was introduced in 2006 and was improved in 2012 with the introduction of a "high performance push to talk" (Called PRIP).[7] In 2014, it was adquired by Fucata S.A., and became property of the Argentine Businessmen Sergio Szpolski and Matías Garfunkel.[8] By late 2014, the company only held a marketshare of 1,54%.[9]

WOM

In July 7, 2015, Nextel Chile was bought by the Novator Partners equity fund.[9][10] The company was then renamed to WOM (an acronym of Word of Mouth) and Chris Bannister became CEO, becoming known as "Tío WOM" (meaning Uncle WOM in Spanish).[5][10][11][12][13] Since then, the company has seen massive growth within Chile, achieving 1 million clients only 7 months after its purchase.[14][15][16][1] That same year, it announced the introduction of 4G service, which it implemented in most mayor cities within only 2 months.[11][14][16][17] In 2017, it surpassed 3 million clients, becoming one of the biggest telecommunication companies in Chile.[18][19] In 2018, it achieved 4 million clients, and that same year, Bannister resigned as CEO.[11][20][21][22] In 2019, it achieved 20% of the marketshare in Chile with over 5 million clients and became one of the first companies in Latin America to test 5G service.[11][23][24] In 2020, for the first time since its purchase, WOM became profitable, after becoming the fourth biggest telecomunications company in Chile, with over 6 million clients.[25][26] In 2021, WOM launched it's IPTV service WOM TV, and in 2022, it launched 5G service across the entire country.[27][28]

In 2024, WOM filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Delaware in an effort to undergo a corporate and financial restructuring due to short term liquidity problems.[29] In March of 2025, the company finished its restructuring and got out of the Chapter 11, with Bannister returning as CEO as part of the corporate restructuring.[30][31][32]

Controversy

In 2015, WOM aired a comercial featuring Evo Morales (then president of Bolivia) wearing flip-flops in front of a painting of a ship, struggling to "navigate" the web, then leaving Bolivia's presidential palace and telling Chilean reporters that they are spies.[33] The comercial alluded the fact that after Bolivia lost the War of the Pacific, it's access to the sea got cut off, and that Morales had a verbal confrontation with Chilean reporters outside the Palacio Quemado, in which he called them "agents of the Chilean intelligence service".[34][35] The commercial aired during a dispute between Bolivia and Chile in the International Court of Justice, where Bolivia petitioned a negociation of the current borders to grant itself access to the sea.[33] The Bolivian government protested the commercial, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking the Chilean government to take action against the company.[36][35][37]

In 2018, the company made a commercial featuring Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, where he is seen mourning Hugo Chávez in a church when a small bird approaches him.[38] Maduro then claims that the bird was actually Chávez, and he starts communicating with him, only for the bird to cut to a sales pitch for WOM.[38] The commercial was criticized by Venezuelans online, calling it a mockery of their country, with president Maduro calling it ridiculous and dismissing it as envy of Venezuela's "happy and free revolutionaries".[38][39][40][41]

References

  1. ^ a b Estudio para la fijacion de tarifas de los servicios afectos a fijacion tarifaria prestados por la concesionaria WOM S.A. (periodo 2019-2024) (PDF). 29 July 2018.
  2. ^ a b Anderson, Phil. "Subtel Deja Abierta la Puerta a Nextel - BNamericas". BNamericas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2014-04-13. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  3. ^ Vergara Barbagelata, Rodrigo (2012). Caso de estudio Nextel [Nextel Case Study] (PDF) (in Spanish). Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. p. 4.
  4. ^ "Historia de las telecomunicaciones en Chile". TELECOM (in Spanish). 2025-03-06. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  5. ^ a b "WOM, revolucionaria de las telecomunicaciones en Chile". El Economista (in Spanish). 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  6. ^ "2012 - Great Place to Work® Chile". www.greatplacetowork.cl (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 2012-12-15. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  7. ^ Cooperativa.cl. "Nextel Chile activó el servicio "Push to talk"". Cooperativa.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  8. ^ Clarín, Redacción (2014-08-19). "Dos empresarios kirchneristas compraron la filial chilena de Nextel". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  9. ^ a b "Chile: Nextel fue vendido a un fondo de inversión británico" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2025-06-07. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  10. ^ a b Slattery, Gram. "New telecoms player grows fast, turns heads in conservative Chile". U.S. Archived from the original on 2022-06-13. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  11. ^ a b c d "Quiénes Somos - WOM" (in European Spanish). 2023-12-21. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  12. ^ Marusic, Mariana (2021-05-14). "WOM revela por primera vez todas sus cifras: sus ganancias, sus deudas y su dotación". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  13. ^ Tapia, Francisco Zúñiga (2023-10-18). "Quién es Chris Bannister, el "tío WOM" que vuelve a Chile". BioBioChile - La Red de Prensa Más Grande de Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-22.
  14. ^ a b Carrasco, Francisco (2016-02-12). "WOM alcanzó su primer millón de clientes en un año | ITseller Chile" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  15. ^ Orellana, Gustavo (2021-04-19). "¿Caballo pillado? WOM iguala a Claro como el tercer mayor operador de la industria móvil". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  16. ^ a b "WOM, revolucionaria de las telecomunicaciones en Chile". El Economista (in Spanish). 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  17. ^ Woo, Eduardo (2016-01-06). "WOM concluye el despliegue de su red 4G en todo Chile". BioBioChile - La Red de Prensa Más Grande de Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  18. ^ Rübke, Mario (2017-08-11). "Chile: WOM: 2 años – 3 millones de clientes". MADBOXPC (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  19. ^ Placencia, Felipe. "Wom alcanza los 3 millones de clientes liderando en portabilidades netas". Diario Concepción (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  20. ^ Asencio, Sebastián (2018-08-03). "Fin del Tío WOM: Chris Bannister renuncia a la empresa y se va diciendo "fuck the darkside"". BioBioChile - La Red de Prensa Más Grande de Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  21. ^ Montoya, Gustavo Guerra (2019-05-22). "La conversión del ex CEO de WOM: de exitoso empresario a activista por el cambio climático". País Circular (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  22. ^ "BNamericas - Wom Chile alcanza 4 millones de suscriptores". BNamericas.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  23. ^ TrendTIC (2026-02-13). "WOM prueba 5G en banda 3,5 GHz con 40 MHz de espectro y autorización de Subtel – trendTIC" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  24. ^ "5 millones de clientes: WOM celebra 4 años en Chile". ZetabitE (in Spanish). 2019-07-08. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  25. ^ Pisapapeles (2020-02-10). "Por primera vez WOM logra ganancias en Chile". Pisapapeles (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  26. ^ Villagrán, Juan Manuel (2020-02-22). "El paso a paso de WOM que los tiene con un ojo en la Bolsa". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  27. ^ "WOM launches commercial 5G in Chile - Developing Telecoms". developingtelecoms.com. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  28. ^ "Chile: WOM TV se lanza con dos planes". Newsline Report (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2021-11-08. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  29. ^ "LexLatin | WOM culmina reestructuración corporativa y financiera y sale del Capítulo 11". LexLatin (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  30. ^ Staff, Forbes (2025-03-23). "WOM Chile consolida su reestructuración financiera y sale del Capítulo 11". Forbes Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  31. ^ Ortega, Paulina (2025-03-21). "Wom sale oficialmente del Capítulo 11 de la Ley de Quiebras y estrena nuevo directorio". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  32. ^ "WOM completa reestructuración y anuncia exitosa salida del Capítulo 11 - Carey Abogados". www.carey.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  33. ^ a b en, Seguir (2017-11-29). "La polémica publicidad chilena que tiene a Evo Morales como protagonista". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  34. ^ EFE (2015-07-30). "Bolivia pide a Chile tomar medidas contra empresa por publicidad con alusión a Evo Morales". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  35. ^ a b Villavicencio, Carlos. "Evo Morales califica a prensa chilena en La Paz como "agentes de inteligencia"". BioBio Chile.
  36. ^ "Bolivia pide a Chile tomar acciones por publicidad discriminatoria contra Evo Morales | SinEmbargo MX". SinEmbargo MX | Periodismo digital con rigor. (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  37. ^ Puranoticia. "Bolivia pide tomar medidas por publicidad discriminatoria de WOM | Puranoticia.cl". puranoticia.pnt.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  38. ^ a b c Press, Europa (2015-07-28). "Un anuncio de telefonía se burla del 'pajarito' de Nicolás Maduro". www.notimerica.com. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  39. ^ ""Envidia": La respuesta de Maduro al grosero comercial chileno que ataca a Venezuela (+wom) | La iguana TV". www.laiguana.tv (in Spanish). 2015-08-04. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  40. ^ Copesa, Grupo. "Maduro califica de 'ridículo' aviso comercial chileno que parodia su anécdota del 'pajarito'". Archived from the original on 2015-08-16. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  41. ^ T13 (2015-08-07). "El comercial chileno que desató la ira de Nicolás Maduro". Teletrece Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.