Brazilian president issues call for USD50bn, ten-year investment in fibre

The president of Brazil Dilma Rouseff has asked the Ministry for Communications to draw up a national project designed to extend the reach of fibre-optic network infrastructure to all Brazilian regions within the next ten years, BNamericas cites communications minister Paulo Bernardo as saying. According to Bernardo, the government is envisaging an initial budget of BRL100 billion (USD51.2 billion) in the project, which would include private sector partnerships, tax breaks for those involved, funding from national development bank BNDES, and investment from state-controlled telco Telebras. Of the planned total, some BRL25 billion would be ring-fenced for the backbone network, with the remainder set aside for last mile access (i.e. fibre-to-the-home [FTTH]) and backhaul. It is understood the ambitious plan is only at the study phase, with the government considering the best options for its implementation. The results of the study will be forwarded to president Rousseff in due course, he said.