Telefonica has announced the creation of a new Brazilian fibre company, dubbed FiBrasil. The company will be a 50–50 joint venture between the operator and Canadian pension fund CDPQ (Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec).
Telefonica’s 50% stake will be split evenly between Telefonica Brasil (Vevo) and the Group’s infrastructure arm, Telefónica Infra. CDPQ will reportedly be investing up to $317.1 million in the joint venture.
FiBrasil will initially be deploying and operating fiber networks in a number of mid-sized cities across Brazil outside the state of Sao Paulo. Telefonica Brasil will be contributing an initial fibre network that covers around 1.6 million homes to the new wholesaler, with FiBrasil targeting a total of 5.5 million homes by 2025.
Telefonica themselves will be the anchor tenant for the company.
“Vivo will be FiBrasil's anchor tenant, consolidating itself as the leading convergent operator in the country. The transaction is framed within our strategic pillars, allowing Vivo to improve time-to-market, while at the same time enabling a more efficient use of funds," explained Christian Gebara, Telefonica Brasil's CEO.
Telefonica Brasil says the FiBrasil will play an instrumental role in the company’s own target of bringing fibre to 24 million homes by the end of 2024, including to greenfield cities.
Just two weeks ago, Telefonica agreed a similar deal with KKR in Chile, related to the partial sale of its local fibre unit. Telefonica Chile will retain a 40% stake of the unit, while KKR will acquire the remaining 60% in an agreement valued at around $1 billion. The newly formed company, InfraCo, will be Chile’s first open access wholesale fibre network.
“We are excited to be working with Telefónica to create the first-ever open access wholesale fiber network in Chile. This will create competition where none exists today, helping Chilean families, companies, and the economy recover and grow in the digital economy,” said Waldemar Szlezak, senior leader on KKR’s infrastructure investment team.
Source: https://www.totaltele.com/508863/Telefonica-launching-Brazilian-fibre-wholesale-JV-with-CDPQ
