5.1 A timeline of events relating to the PNBL
August 2009
· The Steering Committee for Digital Inclusion
Programmes is formed, which lays the groundwork for the PNBL. May 2010
· The PNBL is officially
announced by Government decree 7.175.June 2010
· Supported by the
CGPID, a series of public consultations on the PNBL takes place with civil society,
private sector and government officials. 24 Aug 2010
· Complementing the
16 State capitals already announced,
Telebras publishes the list of
the next 100 cities that will receive broadband access by end 2010. It said
a further 1063 cities are planned for 2011.November 2010
- Padtec, a Campinas
based Brazilian equipment supplier, wins Telebras' R68m tender for hardware
to support the PNBL roll-out.
- A consortium of 29
operators, represented by SindiBrazil, files an objection in the Federal Court
in Rio de Janeiro claiming that Telebras does not hold the power to provide
services for the Federal government, and saying that the use of Telebras as
a state company is "anticompetitive". The claim is not upheld.
- Anatel approves measures
allowing operators to apply their license renewal fees directly toward universal
service projects.
- The government announces
plans to host cloud-based applications in support of the PNBL to make it easier
for municipalities to provide online content.
January 2011
- The budget for the
PNBL is revised – Initially, R600 million was to be released to Telebras in
2010 and R400 million in 2011. Now, Telebrás is to have R316million for
2010 and an additional R273 million in capital investment in 2011.
- Federal development
bank, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social (BNDES), provides
credit lines without collateral requirements to small Internet providers participating
in the PNBL.
- Telebras is issued
with an SCM license and thereby authorised by Anatel to provide services to
the last mile.
February 2011
- The new Secretariat
for Digital Inclusion is inaugurated by the federal Government Ministry of Communications.
- Fibre optic cable
reaches Manaus (the capital of the Amazonas) via Venezuela in a joint project
with Brazil to interconnect the power and fibre networks of the state utilities
of Eletrobrás and the Compañia Anónima Nacional Teléfonos
de Venezuela (CANTV).
- Seven Brazilian state governments agree to
eliminate state taxes for broadband service provision and tablet computers will
also be exempt from federal taxes, in line with the existing exemption on PCs
and laptops.
April 2011
· Telebras announces that it had invested R166m
in equipment and services to establish itself as a broadband provider.May 2011
- Telebras reaches agreement with Petrobras and
Eletrobras (Furnas, Chesf, Eletrosul and Eletronorte) to use the fibre networks
of their energy distribution grids.
- Government announces intention to reduce taxes
on locally manufactured tablet computers.
June 2011
- Government moves to encourage additional private
investment in Telebras.
- The 'Broadband is
Your Right' campaign is launched by a coalition of civil society groups.
August 2011
- The cable TV market is opened to telecom operators
and others with foreign-ownership exceeding 49%.
- After public consultation Anatel releases the
proposed revisions to the SCM license which aims to make it easier for small
providers to enter the broadband market.
- The Ministry of Communication announces that
it plans to ensure that at least 80% of metropolitan areas will have 4G coverage
by 2014 (in time for the FIFA World Cup). To achieve this, tenders for the provision
of 4G are being speeded up and the first set of tenders will be issued in April
2012.
- Telebras announces that budget cuts for the
PNBL programme this year from R1bn to R350m will delay the roll out but that
250 cities should be covered by end 2011.
- Mobile operator Claro announces that it will
join the PNBL and is now able to provide a 1Mbps service based on 3G in 515
cities for R29.90 / month (with a 200Mb/month traffic cap). Claro also said
that by the end of 2011 the service will be available in 1017 cities.
- The city of Santo Antônio do Descoberto in
Goiás state is the first to see the rollout of PNBL with residents able to obtain
the 1Mbps service.
- The Federal government says it will provide
tax exemption for the deployment of new telecommunication networks in areas
which are not yet served.
- Telebras signs a contract with the state of
Ceara to use its 740km of it 2500km fibre backbone for the PNBL.
September 2011
- Brazilian manufactured tablets become available.
- Brazil's government (lower house) agrees to
exempt locally manufactured tablets from the federal taxes, which is expected
to reduce tablet price by 30%. The bill now goes to Senate.
Telecom operator GVT, part of the Vivendi Group, announces it will invest U.S.$300–500
million to build a backbone network International in partnership with international
carriers.
Telebras announces that it has signed contracts to supply network infrastructure
for more than 20 Internet service providers and expects to close the year with
more than one thousand ISPs registering their interest on the Telebras web site
(currently about 600 have registered).
5.2 Relevant links
5.2.1 Government agencies
5.2.2 Multistakeholder Internet Management
5.2.3 Industry Associations
5.2.4 ICT and broadband market information sources