Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) has launched a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) franchising model, which will allow regional partners to extend broadband coverage to underserved locations. Under the brand ‘Terra, connected by Vivo’ the service will target towns that are home to between 20,000 and 50,000 people, as well as peripheral neighbourhoods of large urban centres.
Under the scheme, Telefonica will provide access to its 115,000km nationwide backbone as well as offering technical training, while franchisees will be responsible for the development of all necessary network infrastructure, as well as the operational management, including sales, service and installation.
Vivo is confident that franchisees can add more than one million fibre-enabled households to its footprint by the end of 2021. Currently, the telco’s FTTH networks pass around ten million homes in 154 towns and cities.