Tim increasingly a protagonist of 5G in Brazil. In the country that represents its first market outside Italy (mobile customers are around 70 million, more than double the Italian ones) and which is leader in South America for 5G coverage, the Italian group is playing an even more important game than what was done in our country. In fact, while in 2019 Vodafone was doing the first tests in Italy, Brazil was the first South American country to get up to speed and it was precisely Tim Brazil to conduct the first experiments, being ready when last Monday, December 2nd, by law they were enable standalone 5G networks, the so-called “pure” 5G, which according to the Brazilian government's plans will have to be active throughout the territory by 2029.
Tim leader of 5G in Brazil
Today Tim Brasil, which over the years has 180.000 kilometers of fiber optics installed and reaches 100% of the Municipalities with 4G, is the leader in latest generation coverage, ahead of the other operators Vivo and Claro, together with which it had won the public auction. Its antennas are present in 500 cities, that is, more than half of the 815 total where the infrastructure is already installed according to Anatel data, although not all locations have a functioning network. Among these five hundred urban centers are all those with more than half a million inhabitants, starting with Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, whose metropolitan areas are home to 35 million people. In 11 of the 27 capitals, including the federal capital Brasilia, Tim Brasil is present with 5G in all neighborhoods.
The 5G network currently has a speed of 400 Mbps, five times higher than 4G, but “pure” 5G promises to reach 1 gigabit per second. The challenge for operators, Tim Brasil first and foremost, is to reach also cover the 4.401 municipalities with less than 30 thousand inhabitants: although the company reaches 70% of the urban population as a whole, at the moment only 56 of these cities, often located in remote areas, are covered by the latest generation network installed by the Italian group's subsidiary.
The importance of Brazil for Tim
“Tim Brasil – recently declared Rogerio Pahoor, director of the Core Network – has created the first Standalone 5G Core in Latin America and will continue to invest”. Moreover, the construction of the infrastructure in Brazil is proceeding at rhythms even faster than in Italy (in April of this year the cities reached were less than a tenth of what they are now) and it was not limited to urban areas only, indeed the company at the time led by Peter Labriola, today Group CEO, took into account the fact that Brazil is a agricultural industry giant, is the leading global exporter of 10 agri-food raw materials, and for this reason it has great potential for digitalization and optimization of production through Agriculture 4.0. Thanks to the Tim Brasil 4G network, almost 20 million hectares of rural areas in Brazil are now enabled, that is, a territory equal to over two thirds of the Italian one. In particular, this year the subsidiary signed a agreement with the giant BP Bunge Bioenergia for the installation of a hundred antennas in various production areas in Brazilian territory of the company specialized in sugar cane, from which it also obtains clean energy.
“BP Bunge is the nour main project with the agri-food industry and in general one of the largest in all of Latin America", underlined the CEO of Tim Brasil Alberto Griselli, 52 years old, who took over from Labriola in 2022. The group's strategies in the South American country, which also include several environmental and social initiatives, are also paying off in the accounts: the constant and double-digit growth of recent years culminated in 2023 with the absorption of a portion of Oi's customers and a maxi dividend increased to 2,9 billion reais thanks to results above expectations. The first quarter of 2024 was instead the best first quarter of the history of Tim Brasil from an operational perspective, reporting revenues of 6,1 billion reais (+7,3%), and an Ebitda of 2,9 billion reais (+10,7%). Operating cash flow rose from 532 to 843 million, marking an increase of 58,6% compared to the previous year. Solid results that were also confirmed in the nine months, with Ebitda rising to 3,2 billion reais and operating cash flow to 1,6 billion reais, +23,4% on an annual basis. All for the Shareholders' joy: dividends for 2024 will be even higher than in the previous financial year, estimated at 3,5 billion reais, equivalent to over 600 million euros. “Once again we present solid accounts,” Griselli commented. “We are increasingly focusing on innovation and 5G, but also on B2B and disruptive offers.”
