The Brazilian government’s recent announcement to cut taxes (called Brazil Maior) in order to push forward some sectors may be the weapon needed to prevent the country from entering an international economic crisis, said Minister of Communications Paulo Bernardo, speaking at the ABTA Congress in São Paulo.
These measures will help increase domestic consumption. “Brazil still has a lot of domestic demand for ICT. I have no doubt that Internet subscribers will raise a lot due to National Broadband Plan (PNBL), and this will increase demand for computers and tablets,” explained Bernardo. As a consequence, Brazil will need to build more network infrastructure to meet the increased demand, and the government plans to push that through Telebrás, the former Brazilian state-owned monopoly telephone system that was privatized in July 1998. The Telebrás network will be used to connect the whole country, acting as the infrastructure backbone provider for carriers.
“Telebrás will receive investments from the government and private initiatives to expand its networks, and we are also focusing on the World Cup and Olympics Games,” explained Bernardo, who said he is confident that Telebrás will attract foreign investment, and he guaranteed that although it’s a public company, it can provide a return on investment.
Bernardo also said that by the end of August, the government will evaluate adding other telecom initiatives to the Brazil Maior plan. Others ministries have to analyze all the impact and check for overlapping projects. “I don’t believe there will be a huge impact in 2011,” said.
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