Ortel was founded in early 1984, and its broadcasts on VHF channel 5 started in August of that year. In 1991, the channel was acquired by Remigio Ángel González, who had owned Telesistema (channel 4) in Guayaquil since at least 1983. Under his management, the channel was renamed Maxivisión. The company merged with Telecuatro Guayaquil in 1993, effectively ceasing local origination of content, becoming a relayer of Telesistema. Ortel continued to exist as a separate company. Thanks to revisions in the Ecuadorian media law in 1997, Telecuatro and Ortel were acquired by
Panamanian company Prolasa (de facto predecessor of Albavisión) and Belleville Investment, a companyseated in the
Bahamas, a tax haven. González is the head figure of both companies. Early on, on February 3, journalist Andrés Carrión left the channel after receiving a warning from "hidden forces" and criticism from
Rafael Correa. Carrión later moved to Canal Uno. It was also suggested that the launch of Televicentro was due to "technological testing". ==References==