Brazilian carrier Oi recently announced the start of a shared broadband Wi-Fi project in Rio de Janeiro. The Wi-Fi project will begin with about 150 hot spots in the Ipanema and Leblon neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro, and the number of hot spots could increase to 500 by year’s end.
The launch follows Oi’s purchase of Wi-Fi company Vex in August for U.S. $16.8 million. At that time, Vex operated about 40,000 hot spots in Brazil and other countries throughout Latin America.
Because hotspots are located in areas with high demand for data services, such as airports, hotels, restaurants and business centers, bringing Vex to Oi subscribers allowed Oi to differentiate with its mobile broadband strategy. With the addition of Vex, Oi — which operates nationwide and offers local and long-distance voice transmission and mobile telephony, data communication, Internet and entertainment services — would be able to offload its 3G traffic as well. According to Brazilian telecom agency Anatel, Brazil had 31.7 million 3G subscribers, of which Oi accounted for 1.13 million.
Oi said that the initiative reinforces its strategy to invest in the expansion of mobile Internet coverage to cater to the increasing demand generated by the mass use of smartphones, tablets and laptops.
Wi-Fi hot spots are not new in Brazil. Brazilian carrier Net is expanding its broadband services by installing Wi-Fi hot spots in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The project is still in a pilot stage, but it is a key point in América Móvil’s plans to gain market share in Brazil.
Early in October, América Móvil’s three companies based in Brazil — Net, Embratel and Claro — launched a variety of integrated services that combine high-definition pay television, mobile and fixed-line telephony, and fixed and mobile broadband Internet, including access to Wi-Fi hotspots.
The strategy follows an international trend. Some mobile operators are using Wi-Fi in order to offload their 3G networks.
The project was developed in partnership with Fon, a Spanish company with more than 4.5 million Wi-Fi hotspots in nearly a dozen countries, including Portugal, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Subscriber plans
Oi Velox customers who have plans starting at 5 MB, Oi Velox 3G customers and those who have subscribed to data plans of 2 GB or more will be able to use Oi’s Wi-Fi hot spots for free.
Other Oi customers and those subscribing to any other operator’s data plans may use Oi’s Wi-Fi network for free for 30 minutes upon their first connection. To continue using the network, they will have to buy passes by using their credit cards: one hour for U.S. $1.70, one day for $3.34 and five days for $6.83.
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