Six new companies were classified to join the Open Consortium of the Neutral Operator (ON) of Infovia 00 of the Norte Conectado Program, created by the Ministry of Communications (MCom). They are: Tim, Claro, V.TAL, Ozônio, VOCE Telecom and HTM, as announced this Friday (16) by the National Teaching and Research Network (RNP). The companies have three months to sign the Terms of Assignment and start the operation. Contracts are valid for 15 years and can be renewed.

Operators and providers join the other six that already make up the consortium. On a shared basis, the companies must operate, maintain and commercially exploit the fiber optic infrastructure that already has 770 kilometers of extension in place. Infovia 00, operational since June, connects Macapá (AP) to Santarém (PA), passing through the Pará cities of Almeirim and Monte Alegre and, from Santarém, to Alenquer. In the first quarter of 2023, it will also arrive in Curuá (PA), adding around 60 km to the length of the Infovia.

The director of Infrastructure Projects at MCom, Marcus Arrais, points out that the implementation of high-speed network infrastructure (backhaul) combined with the entry of new companies in the sector will improve communications services in the region. “Many of the cities served by the infovias do not have access to optical fibers. Now, in addition to fiber backhaul, there will also be competition between companies. The expectation is that the offer of services that is already starting with six companies will increase even more with these new six, with competitive prices in relation to those practiced in the rest of the country”, he said.

The following companies already make up the Open Consortium of the Neutral Operator of Infovia 00: Telefônica, Mobwire, BrDigital, ClickIP/ICOM Telecom, SEA Telecom and Aquamar. They were qualified in an open selection process in July 2021.

Another company was also qualified in this call: Easytech. However, in this process, only six vacancies were made available. This is because the infovias have 12 pairs of optical fibers reserved for the private sector and six are already occupied by the companies selected in the first public notice. This company, Easytech, classified in 7th place, will be able to join the consortium in case of withdrawal of any of the selected ones.

MORE CONNECTIVITY FOR THE POPULATION – The consortium members each have access to a pair of optical fibers to exploit commercially. This can be done by selling packages to end users or by sharing the infrastructure with other companies. Optical fiber pairs support up to 40 optical channels, each capable of at least 100 gigabits per second (Gbps).

The infrastructure also enables metropolitan networks that provide connections to teaching and research institutions, hospitals, Basic Health Units and units of the Judiciary. For this, the channels of the pairs of optical fibers intended for the public sector are used.

According to the general director of RNP, Nelson Simões, the availability of Internet services represents a transformation in the cities and in the lives of the people served. “We who are in cities served by communication don't know what it's like not to have a good cellular network. We are used to using applications on our smartphones, having fast Internet at home and this will be available to populations that are hundreds of kilometers away, within a region where natural barriers have made this very difficult in recent years”, he pointed out.

Source: Ministry of Communications, with information from RNP.