Nascent national champion Brasil Telecom/Oi is in the midst of a telecoms equipment tender process to support its participation in the national broadband network, TelecomFinance has learned.
Vendors Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson and Alcatel are all rumoured in…
Nascent national champion Brasil Telecom/Oi is in the midst of a telecoms equipment tender process to support its participation in the national broadband network, TelecomFinance has learned.
Vendors Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson and Alcatel are all rumoured in the market to have submitted bids.
It is unclear how the vendors will finance the sale, but it is thought that some of them have approached banks about serving as financial advisers, though no mandates have been assigned. Further down the road, it is possible that there may be a role for ECAs to play.
In May, the Brazilian government launched a national broadband plan, under which some R$15bn (US$8.5bn) will be spent to take the internet to 75% of the country’s households by 2014. Government plans also include a R$3.22bn (US$1.82bn) stimulus for former incumbent Telebras, which will be responsible for operating a 23,000km fibre optic backbone. Some R$7.5bn (US$4.25bn) in funding for Telebras and other operators will come from state development bank BNDES. Another R$1.75bn (US$1bn) in R&D monies will come from Funntel, a national telecoms investment fund.
