Brazil’s Ministry of Communications (MCom) has selected twelve companies to participate in the Infovia 01 Norte Conectado Program. The consortium will comprise Telefonica Brasil (Vivo), TIM Brasil, Claro Brasil, Aquamar, ClickIP/ICOM Telecom, SEA Telecom, BR Fibra, Mobwire/DB3, Ozonio Telecom, PPLINK, Voce Telecom and V.tal. (Note: Easytech and Manaos have been named as reserves in case of withdrawal.)
The participants are obliged to operate, maintain and commercially exploit a fibre-optic backbone that connects Santarem (Para) to Manaus (AM), passing through the municipalities of Obidos, Juriti, Oriximina and Terra Santa (all Para) and Parintins, Urucurituba, Itacoatiara and Autazes (all Amazonas). In total, the infrastructure will span 1,100km. The contract is valid for an initial period of 15 years, but is renewable.
Marcus Arrais, Director of Infrastructure Projects at MCom, commented: ‘Companies have up to three months to form the open consortium and sign the terms of assignment to start the operation. Infovia 01 is being implemented, and should be delivered by the end of January. Our expectation is that by March the infrastructure will already be available to companies to explore the service.’