tva going to launch mobile voip service possibly by end of year; tva has 295,000 cable tv customers ..
Brazil's TVA Internet Phone Service Adds To Phone Co Worries
Tuesday June 21, 5:07 PM EDT, Dow Jones
money.iwon.com
SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Brazil's second-largest cable television operator, TVA, launched residential internet phone services Tuesday, promising lower prices while adding to the worries of traditional fixed-line phone companies.
TVA, owned by Brazilian media group Abril, said in a statement it is launching residential services using voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, technology, in partnership with U.S. technology firm Net2Phone Inc. (NTOP) (NTOP) and long-distance operator Primeira Escolha.
The partners began providing corporate VoIP services in October 2004, and are now opening up the service to anybody with broadband Internet access at home.
TVA Voz, as the service is called, says it will cut phone bills by up to 50%, with calls to other TVA Voz customers offered for free.
Furthermore, customers can take their phone number to any computer with broadband Internet access, anywhere in the world, TVA said. This means that a subscriber can log on to the service in the U.S., and pay only the local charges when calling Brazil.
TVA will sell VoIP handsets for 399 reals ($1=BRL2.38) each, and aims to sign up 3,000 customers by year-end, primarily targeting its existing 295,000 cable television customers and 35,000 broadband Internet access users.
VoIP technology cuts the cost of long-distance calls by routing them over the Internet, rather than over the traditional long-distance networks owned by traditional phone companies.
In Brazil, a host of startups, including phone company GVT, are now offering VoIP services and putting pressure on the main long-distance carrier, Embratel Participacoes SA (EMT), as well as the three fixed line incumbents, Telemar ( TNE), Telesp (TSP) and Brasil Telecom (BRP).
According to Brazil's fixed-line operators' association, Abrafix, 38% of all outgoing international calls from Brazil are now carried on some form of VoIP network.
That amounts to about $360 million in lost revenue annually for the firms, according to UBS Investment Research.
"The main company hurt by VoIP and other forms of bypass is likely to be Telmex (TMX) subsidiary Embratel , since $1.7 (billion) of its $2.6 billion in revenue last year was long distance, both domestic and international," UBS said in a note to investors.
This was part of the reason why Telmex, Mexico's largest phone company, purchased a significant stake in Brazil's largest cable TV firm, Net Servicos de Comunicacao (NETC). Net and Embratel are reportedly working on a plan to launch VoIP services.
The traditional operators believe that certain VoIP services are illegal, and want Brazil's telecoms regulator, Anatel, to clamp down. The VoIP newcomers reject this position, and want Anatel to adopt the hands-off approach taken by the Federal Communications Commission in the U.S.
VoIP "has been an alternative to stimulate competition," TVA's Loria said. " What we expect is that Anatel should not oppose the entrance of new competitors."
According to UBS, "Cheaper calls benefit consumers directly, and there appears to be no political appetite to fight a (possibly hopeless) technology battle in favor of more expensive calls."
Meanwhile, mobile operators, which have so far escaped serious competition from VoIP, may come under threat later this year as new handsets with high-speed Internet access become available in Brazil. TVA executives said the firm is planning to launch a mobile VoIP service, possibly by year-end. |
