NexTV LatAm daily news reports that Brazilian fixed and mobile operator Vivo, a unit of Telefonica of Spain, has rolled out its fibre-to-the home (FTTH) network to 1.5 million households passed, up from 800,000 at the start of this year, and now targets 1.8 million homes covered by end-2013. In June this year the company launched its latest marketing campaign to drive take-up for all its TV services (DTH and IPTV); the carrier’s IPTV offer boasts includes 43 high definition (HD) channels and a maximum 100Mbps broadband internet connection.
In a separate development, Vivo rival Algar Telecom is said to be already providing its DTH TV service in partnership with no fewer than 20 internet service providers (ISPs), primarily serving small localities in Brazil. The online journal says that Algar will soon announce an agreement ‘with an important operator’, and meanwhile, will continue testing an IPTV solution ‘for the upcoming year’. Algar Telecom began trialling ISP TV services in 2012 and launched commercial services at the start of this year in partnership with three ISPs. The telco’s ISP TV service is based on a platform supplied by Media Networks which is specifically designed for ISPs working in the interior of Brazil to help them deliver Algar’s triple-play offer. The TV service is billed by Algar Telecom, but charged by the ISP, which does not have to make any investment to launch the offer. Algar will launch its own IPTV platform in 2014, by which date it will also have a wholesale IPTV offer for participating ISPs. Previously, Algar Telecom had focused on providing CATV-based service in conjunction with Telefonica’s CTBC.