Wireless Federation

People living in the USA can for the first time top-up the phones of their friends and family in Brazil, thanks to a new online service from payments specialist Upaid Systems.

RechargeBrazil.com is the first website of its kind: a bilingual English/Brazilian-Portuguese service accessible via any internet connection. Traditional long-distance phone recharge services have
required purchasing credit in a participating shop.

“RechargeBrazil is the latest ground-breaking service from Upaid and a real step forward for expatriate Brazilians living in the US,” said Simon Joyce, Upaid CEO. “It further broadens Upaid’s portfolio of over a thousand patents covering markets from Asia to the Americas.”

Upaid customers can already pay bills, make credit card payments, and top-up phone credit via a mobile handset. RechargeBrazil.com represents a first move into online services for Upaid, the international mobile payments specialist operating since 1997 and headquartered in the UK.

“Upaid investors can be proud of the new service, and confident it will bring still more value to the company,” said Joyce. Investors include billionaire investment banker Kenneth Langone and the Zeist Foundation: a charitable trust for underprivileged children and adolescents.

Working with PayPal, the global leader in safer online payments, RechargeBrazil.com has been launched with a consortium of Brazilian mobile operators including Vivo, Claro, TIM, Telefonica and Embratel. It is also available for Brazilian Portuguese speakers as RecargaBrasil.com.

PayPal customers can easily send phone credit to family and friends in Brazil by entering the mobile operator, location and telephone number of the person they wish to send phone credit to.

Alberto Rodrigues, Regional Operations Manager of Upaid Brazil commented, “RechargeBrazil.com is an innovative service that showcases the payment technology offerings of Upaid, creating a unique service and enabling users to top-up mobile phones in Brazil quickly, safely and securely.”

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.

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Brazil’s third largest fixed line operator by subscribers Oi (formerly Telemar) is seeking to merge with rival telco Brasil Telecom (BrT), reports BNamericas citing local press reports. The move comes hot on the heels of a government announcement confirming it will study the feasibility of the operation. Oi chief executive Eduardo Falco says such a tie-up could create greater competition in the market, rather than limit it, which critics of the merger fear. Speaking at a conference organised by the national pay television association ABTA in São Paulo, Falco said Brazil was in need of a second national backbone and more than one mobile operator with penetration across the whole country. Embratel is currently the sole operator with a national backbone. It is understood the Brazilian government is backing the merger as it wishes to see a strong national player emerge to compete with regional telecoms giants Telefonica and Telmex.

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Brazil’s largest pay TV company by subscribers, Net Serviços, has announced plans to upgrade networks and services covering more than 100,000 households in São Paulo city, writes BNamericas citing a company statement. The upgrade will enable residents to receive cable TV and high speed broadband access, as well as fixed line voice services provided by wireline operator Embratel’s NET Fone service in areas such as Freguesia do Ó, Pirituba, Cidade Líder and Parque São Domingos. Embratel and Net Serviços are both part of Mexican telephony giant Telmex.

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