Brazil Bonari: Alcatel, Nortel, Algar, HP New Suppliers
SAO PAULO -- Brazilian long-distance carrier Bonari Telefonica SA Tuesday said it has formalized agreements
with a group of suppliers that will build its network and set up the technical aspects of its operations. It expects an initial investment of $500 million.
In a press release, Bonari - which will operate under the newly announced Intelig brand name - said its main
suppliers are France's Alcatel SA (FTE), Canada's Nortel Networks Corp. (NT), Brazil's Engesat, part of the Algar Group, and U.S.-based Hewlett-Packard Corp. (HWP)
Alcatel will provide transmission systems, fiber optic and intelligent network platforms, the company said.
Engeset will install fiber optics linking Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo states.
Nortel will contribute all switchboards and most of the data network components.
Hewlett-Packard and Cap Gemini will in turn set up computer systems, billing, customer support, etc.
Bonari, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, expects to have 2,200 employees within the next four years, the release
said.
Bonari won its concession as part of Brazil's effort to open up the telecommunications industry. After splitting up
and privatizing former monopoly Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras SA in 1998, the government auctioned off
concessions to compete with each of three fixed wireline companies and with Embratel Participacoes SA (EMT), the domestic and international long distance carrier.
Bonari is controlled by National Grid Group PLC (U.NG), with 50%. Partners Sprint Corp. (FON) and France
Telecom SA (FTE), have 25% stakes respectively.
Bonari - expected to start operations in late 1999 or early 2000 - said it has made significant progress in
establishing rights-of-way for its network deployment.
Bonari also announced it has leased ducts from MetroRed Telecomunicacoes SA - a network company owned by
Fidelity Ventures and Boston Ventures Limited Partnership - to lay fiber optic linking the cities of Rio de Janeiro,
Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte. Financial details weren't specified.
Bonari said Engeset has already started construction on a 500-kilometer tract between Rio de Janeiro and Sao
Paulo. Construction of an additional 500-kilometer link between Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte will start next
year.
Other rights-of-way agreements include rail companies Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos and RailNet,
as well as the Sao Paulo metro system.
Bonari has also signed interconnection agreements with almost all of the fixed-wireline and competitive local access carriers in the country, according to the release.
By the end of 2000 Bonari expects to have 8,500 kilometers of deployed network.
As Intelig, the company will come up against formidable competition from incumbent Embratel, which will have at
least a year and a half after privatization to work on deepening customer loyalty. Its whose brand has also been
round for decades.
Also, Embratel won't be distracted by tasks such as patching together a series of agreements with diverse
rights-of-way landlords to build a new network, which analysts have pointed out has been quite a challenge for
Bonari.
But no matter the advantages of the incumbent, analysts note that Bonari faces a considerably lesser investment, in
the hundreds of millions of dollars, as opposed to the billions doled out by MCI Worldcom.
And they point out that in a country of almost 170 million, consumers will undoubtedly welcome the choice
afforded by a second long-distance carrier.
-By Margarita Palatnik; (5511)813-1988;
mpalatnik@aol.com |
