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OTT battles, broadband expansion, consolidation kickoff Futurecom

SÃO PAULO – The battle between over-the-top players and telecom carriers, along with the increases in and expansion of broadband accesses, the role of 4G and telecom market consolidation were highlights at the opening of this week’s Futurecom event held in São Paulo.

Brazil’s communications minister, André Figueiredo, addressed the event, noting it’s important to discuss the impact of OTT in the telecom industry, but it’s also necessary to respect and take into account the infrastructure investment already made by telecom operators. Figueiredo suggested the government might not impose taxes on OTT providers, which is a different position compared to former ministers who have indicated that OTTs should pay taxes.

João Rezende, president of the country’s telecom regulatory agency, said the private market should come to an agreement without government interference.

Broadband
Regarding broadband Internet, Figueiredo provided coverage goals, including 300 million people connected by 2018, while increasing the average speed of services to 25 megabits per second over the next four years.

“The revitalization of [Brazilian state-owned telecommunications provider] Telebras was vital to boost broadband access for low-income people,” Figueiredo said, adding the goal is to have broadband covering 90% of the population by 2018.

Merger Oi-TIM
The possible merger of Oi and TIM was back (again) in the news over the weekend as Oi announced Russian group Letter One made a proposal with Oi to enter into exclusive negotiations with respect to possible consolidation of the Brazilian telecommunications sector involving a combination with TIM Participações S.A. Letter One is reportedly willing to make an investment of up to $4 billion in Oi, subject to the consolidation activities. TIM has denied that it’s in negotiations with Oi or Letter One.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Roberta Prescott
Roberta Prescott
Editor, [email protected] Roberta Prescott is responsible for Latin America reporting news and analysis, interviewing key stakeholders. Roberta has worked as an IT and telecommunication journalist since March 2005, when she started as a reporter with InformationWeek Brasil magazine and its website IT Web. In July 2006, Prescott was promoted to be the editor-in-chief, and, beyond the magazine and website, was in charge for all ICT products, such as IT events and CIO awards. In mid-2010, she was promoted to the position of executive editor, with responsibility for all the editorial products and content of IT Mídia. Prescott has worked as a journalist since 1998 and has three journalism prizes. In 2009, she won, along with InformationWeek Brasil team, the press prize 11th Prêmio Imprensa Embratel. In 2008, she won the 7th Unisys Journalism Prize and in 2006 was the editor-in-chief when InformationWeek Brasil won the 20th media award Prêmio Veículos de Comunicação. She graduated in Journalism by the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, has done specialization in journalism at the Universidad de Navarra (Spain, 2003) and Master in Journalism at IICS – Universidad de Navarra (Brazil, 2010) and MBA – Executive Education at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.