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wiredInUSA - April 2013
26
Brazilian
communications
minister Paulo Bernardo has
confirmed
that
president
Dilma Rousseff has asked the
communications
ministry,
Minicom, to outline a national
project to extend fiber optic
network infrastructure to all the
country's regions within the next
ten years.
Theminister said the government
has earmarked an initial budget
of $51.2 billion for the project,
which will include partnerships
with the private sector, tax
breaks, credit from national
development bank BNDES, and
investment from state-controlled
telco Telebras.
According to Bernardo, the
program is still being studied by
the government, with authorities
and regulators looking at similar
initiatives elsewhere todefine the
most suitable model. The results
will be forwarded to president
Rousseff.
Another
measure
under
consideration is to include
clauses stipulating investment in
the terms of the future 700MHz
tender, which is for theexpansion
of 4G in Brazil. According to
the minister, the government
could give away part or all
of the earnings obtained
from the tender, in exchange
for investments in telecoms
infrastructure such as fiber.
Rousseff
calls for
decade of
investment