The next few months will be intense Alberto Mario Griselli, new CEO by Tim Brasil, who took the place of at the end of January Peter Labiola, who in the meantime became CEO of the entire Tim group. In fact, it is precisely in Brazil that the Italian TLC group is playing at least a couple of crucial matches. The first is that of the acquisition of the mobile operator Oi, the second is the great challenge of 5G, which in 2022 will make its debut in Brazil, the first country in South America.
A few days ago, Anatel, the national telecommunications agency in Brazil, gave the green light to theacquisition of Oi Móvel by the consortium formed by Tim, Claro and Vivo, however setting conditions for the migration of customers (there are over 50 million). The consortium now has 90 days (starting February 1 and extendable by another 90 days) to negotiate a deal. The estimated value of Oi, which has been in receivership since 2019, is approximately 2,5 billion euros, to which approximately 1,8 billion must be added for the sale of InfraCo, the optical fiber company.
For Tim this is an important blow: the Brazilian subsidiary already has more than 53 million customers today, more or less like those of Oi, from which it will inherit 14,5 million, and behind only Claro as the largest operator in Brazil, a country in which Tim employs nearly 10.000 people. Oi Móvel has been in crisis for years and already in 2020 it sold important assets, including the towers, for a value corresponding to around 5 billion euros.
But the most important game is undoubtedly that of 5G, with Tim well positioned in the maxi tender launched by Anatel last November, on the occasion of which the Italian TLC won 11 lots, for a total value of over 1 billion reais (just under 200 million euros ). Of these, two are national lots (3.5 GHz band and 80 and 20 MHz frequencies), lasting 20 years, including the B3, among the three most coveted (the other two ended up in Claro and Vivo).
Tim has been the leader in 2015G coverage since 4 (it reaches 4.400 Brazilian cities) and completed the first tests for 5G as early as 2019. The moment of truth is already near: according to plan, the latest generation network it will be operational in the main cities of Brazil as early as July of this year, initially in DSS mode, i.e. alternating the connection with 5G to the pre-existing 3G and 4G, depending on the location and needs.
The real challenge, however, is to quickly reach rural areas: 5G is 20 times faster than 4G and will enable Agriculture 4.0 in a country where agribusiness is worth at least 26% of gross domestic product. Brazil will be the first South American country with operational 5G, and will give a significant boost to global numbers: at the end of 2021, half a billion people were connected to the latest generation network, in 2026, according to estimates, there will be (we will be) almost 5 billion.
