Fares Salloum, senior vice president for international operations of GTE, announced the relocation of Codetel president Carlos Espinal to Argentina. In Argentina, Espinal will direct a cellular operations unit of GTE, CTI. Compañía de Telefonos del Interior (CTI), a GTE-led consortium, provides cellular services in the north and south interior regions of Argentina – areas with a total addressed population of 16.5 million. GTE, as operator, has a 58.5 percent ownership interest in CTI. During 1999, CTI had a 37 percent increase in its customer base and, as of December 31, 1999, CTI served 809,298 cellular subscribers. In June 1999, GTE won one of two 40 MHz Personal Communications System wireless telephone licenses for Buenos Aires, giving GTE subsidiaries full country-wide wireless coverage of Argentina. GTE is currently constructing a CDMA network to serve Buenos Aires and expects to launch service during the first half of 2000. Espinal will be responsible for introducing the PCS digital services in Buenos Aires. Espinal was appointed president of Codetel on 1 November 1997. Espinal is one of the Codetel presidents to have lasted the least on the job. Codetel directors before him remained at least four years on the post. The company said that Espinal will continue on the post until his successor is appointed. Codetel’s reputation for excellence in service has suffered in recent years as the company reduced the quality of its services as perceived by customers apparently to maintain the high profitability levels of years prior to the Internet. The new Codetel president will arrive at a time when Codetel faces new competition in the Dominican market from major telecommunications players, such as Centennial Communications Corporation and France Telecom. Codetel is owned and operated by GTE. The company is by far the market leader in the Dominican Republic, providing local, wireless and national and international long-distance telephone service in the Dominican Republic. The company served approximately 701,000 access lines, 244,000 cellular customers and 127,000 paging customers as of 31 December 1999.
