Skip to Content »

Wireless Federation » archive for 'Brasil Telecom'

Brasil Telecom signs a deal with UTStarcom for FMC solution (Brazil)

  • September 11th, 2008
  • 12:37 pm

Brasil Telecom signs the deal with UTStarcom to provide the vendor’s with fixed mobile convergence (FMC) solution. The equipment enables fixed-line connectivity with GSM platforms for call continuity between the two networks using a single wireless device. The solution will also enable Brasil Telecom to extend its current cellular coverage area indoors using a handover between cellular and Wi-Fi networks.

   

Brazil’s mobile market profile (Brazil)

  • August 8th, 2008
  • 6:06 am

Brazil’s mobile market is the fifth largest in the world, in terms of subscribers. Although Brazil holds almost one third of all the mobile users in Latin America, its mobile penetration is lower than the regional average. Brazil is lagging behind the rest of the region in SMS traffic, with text messages cost more than any other Latin American country. Number portability is to be implemented by March 2009. A 3G-spectrum auction in December 2007 was a huge success, and 2008 has been marked by 3G rollouts throughout the country with almost all operators – except for the market leader, Vivo – offering UMTS services.

A sale of 2.6 million mobile phones took place last month, Brazil reached 133.15 million mobile subscribers at the end of June’08, or 1.99% more than in May’08. The mobile penetration rate currently stands at 69.52 percent.

Brazil’s four major mobile operators, Vivo, TIM, Claro, and Oi, together hold about 91% of the market. Eight Brazilian mobile operators, Vivo, TIM Brasil, Claro, Oi, Brasil Telecom, Sercomtel, Nextel, and CTBC Telecom Celular, are reportedly functioning together to develop and launch IM services nationwide. Under the service the subscribers can exchange messages with users on each other’s network.

Vivo, Brazil’s number one mobile operator by subscribers, posted a net loss of BRL59.5 million (USD38 million) in the three months to end-June, EBITDA rose 16% from BRL756 million to BRL879 million . The subscriber base grew to 40.4 million subscribers, up by 19.4%, 7.7 million are post-paid and the remaining 32.7 pre-paid. Vivo leads with 30.36% market share this June.

Brasil Telecom earned a revenue of US$ 1.75 Billion, up by 2.9% in Q2′08, EBITDA reached US$ 0.70Billion (BRL 1.13 billion), up 16.4% BrT Movel registered 5 million mobile subscribers at the end of the period, up by 33.1% Brasil Telecom’s investments were estimated at US$ 509.8million (BRL 812.4 million), up by 168.5% versus last year, the reason being the 3G license acquisition and implementation of the new network.

Oi shows revenues up by 8.7%. Drop in Net profit, 46.8% to BRL 249 million, Mobile ARPU has improved to BRL 22.0 from BRL 21.3 in the first quarter, while churn increased to 6.8%.

   

8 Brazilian operators team up to develop IM services (Brazil)

  • August 6th, 2008
  • 2:10 pm

Eight Brazilian mobile operators, Vivo, TIM Brasil, Claro, Oi, Brasil Telecom, Sercomtel, Nextel, and CTBC Telecom Celular, are reportedly functioning together to develop and launch IM services nationwide.
Under the service the subscribers can exchange messages with users on each other’s network.

   

Oi to raise $1.92 billion for Brasil Telecom takeover (Brazil)

  • August 4th, 2008
  • 5:00 am

Oi Participacoes, Brazil, has announced it’s plans to raise $1.92 billion by the end of October in order to complete it’s financial plan to take over Brasil Telecom.

According to Chief Financial Officer Jose Luis Salazar, Oi has already raised 65% of 12 reais it needs for the purchase.

For the purchase of Brasil Telecom, Oi total debt jumped about 55% from a year earlier.

Oi to raise $1.89 billion to complete its takeover of Brasil Telecom (Brazil)

  • July 21st, 2008
  • 7:57 am

To complete Brasil Telecom deal, leading Brazilian phone company Tele Norte Leste Participacoes, or Oi is looking to raise an additional $1.89 billion.
According to Oi spokesperson the company plans to raise the funds through an overseas bond issue, bank loans or through deals with multilateral lending organizations. The company expects to complete the financing by October.

Oi said that it would finance about $6.91billion of the $8.17 billion needed to purchase control of Brasil Telecom. Previously, the company received a $2.70 billion loan from state-owned Banco do Brasil, as well as $2.26 billion from banks Santander, Bradesco and Itau.

BrT launches 3G using Gemalto USIM (Brazil)

  • June 5th, 2008
  • 3:10 pm

Brasil Telecom (BrT) has selected Gemalto to supply it with Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) cards to support the launch of its 3G network this month. The manufacturer’s USIM technology will allow the cellco’s subscribers to access value added services (VAS) and benefit from higher levels of security on e-transactions when using their handsets. The USIM cards provide for global roaming and will support future offerings such as multimedia content distribution, mobile TV access and mobile payment.

   

 

 

 

 

Oi pays €2.2b to control Brasil Telecom (Brazil)

  • April 28th, 2008
  • 2:18 pm

Brazil’s Oi telecommunications company announced will pay 5.9 billion reals (US$3.5 billion, €2.2 billion) for control of the nation’s No. 3 fixed line carrier in a deal supported by the government to spur competition, an Associated Press report said.

The deal will create a huge fixed line operator spanning most of Latin America’s most populous country, and will give the combined company about 17% of Brazil’s fast-growing cell phone market, the report said.

Controlling shareholders of Oi, whose official name is Tele Norte Leste Participacoes, announced the long-awaited deal in a filing submitted to Brazilian securities regulators.

It must still be approved by regulators, but Brazilian government officials have repeatedly stated they support the combination because it will increase competition for the two other big national players: Spain’s Telefonica and Mexico’s America Movil, the latter owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.

Oi is controlled by a group of Brazilian investment funds, and Brasil Telecom is controlled by Brazilian investment funds and Citigroup.

The Associated Press report also quoted Communications Minister Helio Costa as saying that the combined company would be a dominant player in the fast-growing Brazilian market while also operating in nations like Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.

   

Brasil Telecom and Oi plan merger - Communications Minister

  • January 31st, 2008
  • 2:42 pm

Brasil Telecom and the operator Oi are to merge, Brazil’s communications minister said, reported in Cinco Dias. Helio Costa said the government had received official communication that the two intend to merge, confirming rumours which have been in the market for months. Costa said the communications ministry would ask telecoms regulator Anatel on the procedure which the government should follow so that the merger “goes ahead and prospers”. A tie-up between Oi and Brasil Telecom would create a stronger rival to Spanish telephony giant Telefonica and Mexican magnate Carlos Slim’s operations in Brazil.

   

Oi confirms takeover talks with Brasil Telecom (Brazil)

  • January 11th, 2008
  • 1:48 pm

Brazilian operator Oi has confirmed it’s in talks to acquire rival Brasil Telecom. In a statement to the stock exchange, Oi’s holding company Telemar Participacoes said that the talks had intensified recently but that no agreement had been reached yet. A merger would create a national operator offering fixed, internet and mobile services, to compete against Telefonica Brasil and Embratel.

   

Brasil Telecom picks Alcatel-Lucent to deploy WiMAX platform (Brazil)

  • October 5th, 2007
  • 1:06 pm

Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Brasil Telecom to deploy commercial WiMAX networks using the Rev-e standard in the cities of Sao Paulo, Curitiba and Porto Alegre. Under the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will provide its WiMAX equipment, including base stations, wireless access controllers, backbone links, ethernet MXC 9500 links, IP aggregation equipment, software and application platforms. It also will provide design and planning for integration of the network as well as provisioning services for Brasil Telecom’s network. Alcatel-Lucent’s Universal WiMAX platform is designed to enable rapid implementation of VoIP and broadband services such as mobile data, video streaming and VPN access in fixed, nomadic and mobile environments.