By Joaquim Carlos Fanton*

When traveling, we feel so delighted with the landscape and the scenery around us that we fail to pay due attention to important details. The story that I will report on took place more than 40 years ago and was not disclosed as it should have been. Professionals who are going overseas in missions funded with public money should follow the things I did. 

In August 1975, I traveled to Japan and Australia. In this trip, an engineer from my department, Guilherme Delmont, who can confirm this report, came along with me. The mission aimed to collect subsidies for the introduction of telephone cables with aluminum conductors in Brazil, a topic of high economic importance and high visibility. I could have focused solely on the purpose of the mission. However, I kept observing and speaking to my colleague about all the new features found in the segment under our responsibility, which went from blocks for pair termination in general distributor stations to telephone devices in the subscribers' homes and their wirings. 

The enormous amount of wires and cables that poles supported and the height of the poles caught our attention. We took many pictures to document what we saw. Nothing compared to what can be done today using a simple smartphone.

I then noticed that Japan's poles were equipped with a type of clamp that I had never seen before. Flexible straps made of galvanized steel, fitted with oblong holes, like the one shown in the photo. Our clamps were rigid. We said "a pair of clamps". There were pairs of rigid clamps for circular poles and square poles. Each pole type required over twenty sizes! 

I had managed the construction of dozens of networks in Paraná and knew how difficult and expensive it was to transport a clamp load to the inland. Depending on the size of the network, they were able to fill a truck. We never knew the quantities and sizes that would be necessary. It was all based on estimates. It often lacked a certain size or type of clamp. When large size clamps were in excess, we improvised with a shim. When small size clamps were in excess, we had to ask for more and hope it arrived, or we had to improvise with wire. The problem aggravated in the case of small networks. After the completion of a service, the staff was transferred to another city. It was difficult to return. 

I requested the specifications and the design of the clamp and NTT kindly provided them to me. I continued my journey with a blueprint containing the mechanical design and many writings, which I imagined to be the specification. 

Upon returning to Brasilia, I contacted João Kitahara, who could read and write in Japanese, and he translated them. They were simple technical recommendations. The document specified, for example, "high quality steel". We had to use our experts to define the type of steel, hardness and thickness of zinc plating. The piece had four sizes and adapted to circular and square poles. We call them BAP1, BAP2, BAP3 and BAP4. Once the product was specified and designed, I printed some copies and placed them in my drawer. 

At that time, Telebras had no operations executive office, nor an industrial affairs office. It was all under the technical executive office. Businessmen interested in investing in the sector came to Brasilia often for information on market size, growth projections, size of competition and growth opportunities for certain products. 

Between October 1975 and February 1979, I provided service to several businessmen. To all, I spoke of BAP, showed the design and specifications. I insisted it was an egg of Columbus. No one wanted to manufacture it. They thought the product was too simple, cheap and easy to copy. They wanted more sophisticated products.

In early 1979, I made a licence request for Telebras to work in Africa. I tried to transfer my personal pending items to other team members. An employee called Vanderci inherited the BAP. By June, he called me and sounded very happy telling me he there was people interested in the BAP. They were two old acquaintances of ours: Adolfo Soares and Rodolfo Rocha, who sold connectors to AMP. They had decided to create their own business and had a partner who owned a factory called MASTRA, which manufactured exhausts in Rio Claro, in the State of São Paulo. The partner had vast knowledge in stamping. It was a matter of weeks for tools to be developed and production to start. The company was named REDEX and grew very quickly, in large because the owners were trained people who knew how to establish a product portfolio fit for the market, but the key product, which allowed a safe beginning, was the BAP.

In late 1979, Rodolfo called me. Initially, he thanked me. But what he wanted was to tell me something that bothered him. Embarassed, he confessed: 

- "Fanton I'm sorry, I know the design is yours, but to ensure market, I requested a patent of the product in my name and INPI granted it." 

- "You don't have to apologize for anything, the industrial property is not mine, nor that of Telebras, or NTT." 

It was a wise initiative with a great impact for the country. Today, when I look at a pole, I see at least ten BAPs and there are dozens of manufacturers throughout Brazil.

When the war ended, Japan was devastated and no stone was left unturned. They had to start from scratch. In order to advance faster, they started copying everything. From cars to ships, from toys to watches. At first, the products were no good. Over time, they improved. They were great and are currently being copied. 

Lavoisier discovered that in nature nothing is created, nothing is lost, everything is transformed. The Japanese found that nothing is created, everything is copied. Here is a lesson that we must follow if we actually wish to grow.

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* *Joaquim Fanton is an electrical engineer from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), with 38 years of experience in optical networks. He was a network engineer of Paraná Telecommunications Company (Telepar) of Telecomunicações São Paulo (Telesp), Telebras and the Research and Development Center in Telecommunications (CPqD). Today, he acts as RNP consultant and participates in the implementation of metropolitan fiber optic networks, under the Digital Cities Programme. By walking through the countryside, he accumulated stories that will be shared on this website.