Brazilian telecoms operator Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo (Telesp), the local arm of Spanish giant Telefonica, is committing additional monies on expanding the reach of its fibre-optic (FTTx) network, according to IPTVNews citing local news website Teletime. Telesp currently boasts fibre coverage of around 300,000 households in 22 neighbourhoods across Sao Paulo, but is reportedly aiming to reach over 10,000 customers for its fibre-based services by the end of 2010. it claims to be working hard to reduce installation times for the new service – from eight hours to four – with local officials saying they hope to provide residential users with download speeds of up to 1Gbps within three to four years. Among the packages already available on a commercial basis are a triple-play package offering a 60Mbps broadband connection, IPTV and VoIP voice telephony, for BRL299 (USD168) per month.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, earlier this year Telesp unveiled plans to invest BRL930 million in its broadband networks and services in 2010. In May the operator’s Spanish parent Telefonica revealed it was spending a total of BRL5 billion in Brazil in 2010 to improve both its fixed line and mobile telecoms services. At the time the group’s head of Latin American operations Jose Maria Alvarez Pallete told reporters that Telefonica has invested a total of USD110 billion in the region since it entered Latin America in the 1990s. The Spanish heavyweight, which invested BRL3.4 billion in Brazil last year, owns Telesp and has recently moved to take control of the country’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, Vivo Participacoes.