French group Vivendi plans to file a request with Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) next week for permission to purchase control of Brazilian telco Global Village Telecom (GVT), according to Amos Genish, President of GVT, who added that the French group hopes to introduce IPTV in Brazil following the transaction.

Mr. Genish attended a meeting yesterday with Brazil's Minister of Communications, Hélio Costa, accompanied by the Vice President of Vivendi, Régis Turrini, according to reports in Brazilian news website Abril.com.  Mr. Genish reportedly expects that if the transaction is approved then Vivendi will boost the performance of GVT in Brazil: "We will expand more rapidly into new cities and add more value," he said, referring to new services such as IPTV and mobile telephony.

Vivendi plans to invest US$ 3bn in purchasing GVT this year, according to the report.