Bolivia telephone tokens
The telephone network in Bolivia was divided among different local providers. All providers were obliged to turn themselves into a co-operative society by Decree No. 21060 of 29th August 1985. This decree aimed at the elimination of political influence in the development of the telecommunication network.
- COMTECO: exists since 1941 and is still operating. Service area: Cochabamba and Capinota.
Telephone services in Cochabamba began in 1894 with the installation of the first telephone line ordered by Don Juan de la Cruz Torres. The connection went from his farmhouse in La Muyurina to his office on Sucre street. From 1902, the Telefónica Peña y Compañía Company provided telecommunication facilities for Cochamba. In 1941, it was re-branded "Sociedad Anónima y Cooperativa de Telefonos Automáticos de Cochabamba" in order to raise funds for an automatic telephone exchange. After an international tender, the Swedish company Telephon Aktiebolaget Ericsson, operating locally as Servicio Municipal de Telefonos Automaticos de Cochabamba (SMTA) installed the automatic telephone exchange in 1944.
In 1985, the telephone company became the Cochabamba Mixed Telephone Cooperative (COMTECO). It has the image of being Bolivia's worst telephone provider, in particular because of massive corruption problems and political influence mongering in favour of president Evo Morales.
- COTAP: 1972 to date. Service area: Potosi.
Telephone history in San Luis Potosí started with Automatic Telephones Potosí, (TAP). In 1971, the city of San Luis Potosí wrote a tender to modernise the city telephone network, won by Oki Electric Industry of Japan. Having become COTAP in 1985, the company teamed up with ENTEL (see below) to switch to optical fiber. COTAP's network is seen as the best in Bolivia.
- COTAS: 1960 to date. Service area: Santa Cruz, Camiri, Roboré, San José de Chiquitos, Puerto Suarez, Charagua, Gutiérrez, San Matías.
In 1960, the Santa Cruz Automatic Telephone Cooperative (COTAS) was established. In 1963, COTAS inaugurated automatic telephone service, after putting its first automatic telephone exchange into operation. Five years later, the Cooperative began its service to the rural area. Photo: COTAS operator, around 1965.
In 1998 COTAS ceased to be exclusively a telephone cooperative and became a Telecommunications Cooperative by incorporating new services, initially Internet and cable television. In 2001, when the telecommunications market opened, COTAS ventured into national and international telephone connections.
- COTEL: exists since 1941 and is still operating. Service area: La Paz, El Alto and Viacha.
Interest in telecommunications in La Paz awoke around 1910, when a group of community leaders from La Paz proposed to provide La Paz with a telephone network. It took almost three decades, until 1937, for the authorities to approve the installation of an automatic telephone service for La Paz. The city contributed capital and got to appoint the president of the Telefónica Board of Directors as well as two directors.
In 1941, Vicente Burgaleta founded the Automatic Telephone Company of La Paz Sociedad Anónima (TASA), which began operations with 2,000 telephone lines. In 1943, the capacity was increased to 500 new lines, with further expansions over time.
In 1985, TASA became a co-operative named COTEL. The Telecommunications Law of that year gave COTEL a six-year monopoly in La Paz. Since the beginning of the 1990s, COTEL remained on the verge of bankruptcy. It was refinanced in 2003 after an attempt to connect the company with the German telephone consultancy DETECON had failed.
- ENTEL: exists since 1966 and is still operating. Service area: Camargo, Copacabana, Huanuni, Llallagua, Reyes, Monteagudo, San Ignacio de Moxos, San Borja, Tupiza, Uyuni, Villamontes, Villazón and Yacuiba
In 1960 a major earthquake took place around Potosí. It highlighted the need for a modern and secure telecommunications system . To this end, in 1964 the Ministry of Finance created the National Telecommunications Company (Entel), a public entity. Entel was privatised in 1992.
- ETOSA: 1963 to 1988
ETOSA (Telephone Company of Orura Ltd) was the successor of the Municipal Telephone Co-operative of Oruro. It was established between 1959 and 1960. In 1963, it adapted its structure to comply with a new company law. Its board of directors was chaired by the mayor of Oruro. Owing to the reforms of 1985, ETOSA morphed into COTEOR (Cooperativa de Teléfonos Oruro) in 1988, with a deficit of 300 million Bolivianos.
- SMTA: exists since 1965 and is still operating. Service area: Cochabamba.
See COMTECO above.
- TAP Service area: Potosí.
See COTAP above.
- TASA: 1941 to 1988. Service area: La Paz.
See COTEL above.
There are 2 principal mints for these tokens:
F in a triangle is: Indústria Metalúrgica Fontamac (Brasil)
E in a Gear is: Eduardo SA (Bolivia)
Refs. KhodSA = Telephone Tokens of South America. Viktor Khodzhayev 2015.
| Bolivia telephone tokens | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Filename | TBOL01 | |
| Side 1 | Blank/groove/COMTECO/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/blank | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 22.60 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.45 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO08 | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TBOL02 | |
| Side 1 | Blank/groove/COMTECO/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | F in a Triangle/groove/1988 | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 22.80 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.45 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO09 | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TBOL03 | |
| Side 1 | 1991/groove/COMTECO/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | F in a Triangle/groove/blank | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 23.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.45 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO10 | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TBOL04 | |
| Side 1 | 1998/groove/COMTECO/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/PUKA ORKO | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 23.50 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.60 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO11 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL05 | |
| Side 1 | 1999/groove/COMTECO/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/blank | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 22.50 | |
| Weight (grams) | 3.65 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO12 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL06 | |
| Side 1 | 1986/groove/COTAP/groove/POTOSI | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/EDUARDO/E in a gear | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 23.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.80 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO18 | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TBOL07 | |
| Side 1 | Blank/groove/COTAS/groove/STA CRUZ | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/blank | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 23.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.45 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO04 | |
| Source | ||
| File:TBOL08.jpg | ||
| Filename | TBOL08 | |
| Side 1 | 1985/groove/COTAS/groove/STA CRUZ | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/blank | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 23.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 3.75 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO05 | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TBOL09 | |
| Side 1 | 1985/groove/COTAS/groove/STA CRUZ | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/one letter in a circle (A to K) | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 22.90 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.40 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO06 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL10 | |
| Side 1 | 1986/groove/DDR/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | COTAS/groove/STA CRUZ | |
| Material | Steel | |
| Size (mm) | 22.90 | |
| Weight (grams) | 5.35 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO07 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL11 | |
| Side 1 | Blank/groove/COTEL/LA PAZ/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | F in a Triangle/groove/1988 | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 23.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.35 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO01 | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TBOL12 | |
| Side 1 | 1988/groove/COTEL/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/EDUARDO/E | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 23.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.15 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO02 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL13 | |
| Side 1 | MONOLITO/groove/ENTEL/groove/BOLIVIA | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/blank/groove/blank/groove/blank | |
| Material | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 23.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 5.10 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO13 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL14 | |
| Side 1 | Blank/groove/ENTEL/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/blank/groove/blank/groove/blank | |
| Material | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 23.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 5.20 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO14 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL15 | |
| Side 1 | Blank/groove/ENTEL in a rectangle/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/blank/groove/blank/groove/blank | |
| Material | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 23.40 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.90 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO15 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL16 | |
| Side 1 | Blank/groove/ENTEL/groove/blank | |
| Side 2 | ENTEL/groove/blank/groove/blank/groove/1990 | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 23.05 | |
| Weight (grams) | 3.65 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO16 | |
| Source | ||
| File:TBOL17.jpg | ||
| Filename | TBOL17 | |
| Side 1 | Blank/groove/ENTEL/groove/logo (Ml) | |
| Side 2 | ENTEL/groove/blank/groove/blank/groove/1993 | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 23.05 | |
| Weight (grams) | 3.40 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO17 | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TBOL18 | |
| Side 1 | ETOSA (different size of lettering exist) | |
| Side 2 | Image of a phone | |
| Material | Iron | |
| Size (mm) | 22.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.50 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO20 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL19 | |
| Side 1 | S.M.T.A. | |
| Side 2 | COCHABAMBA | |
| Material | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 24.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.90 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO21 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL20 | |
| Side 1 | TAP in a rhombus | |
| Side 2 | Image of a phone | |
| Material | Iron | |
| Size (mm) | 21.60 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.45 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO19 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL21 | |
| Side 1 | Blank/groove/TASA/groove/1986 | |
| Side 2 | Blank/groove/blank | |
| Material | Zinc | |
| Size (mm) | 23.00 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.45 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO03 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
| ||
| Filename | TBOL22 | |
| Side 1 | TELEFONOS | |
| Side 2 | TELEFONOS | |
| Material | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 21.60 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.00 | |
| Notes | KhodSA#BO22 | |
| Source | Parkingtokens | |
