TeleGeography | January 7, 2011
According to an unconfirmed report from Brazilian newspaper Estadao, the country’s state-owned telecoms company Telebras has seen its proposed BRL1 billion (USD595 million) budget for the National Broadband Plan (PNBL) slashed to just BRL590 million. Telebras director Rogerio Santanna says his firm has been granted money to provide access to 1,163 cities and towns over two years. The operator was scheduled to invest BRL600 million in 2010 and BRL400 million this year, however, following the reduction Santanna confirms Telebras spent BRL316 million last year and will commit a further BRL276 million in the next twelve months. Despite the setback Santanna is confident the company will get close to reaching its rollout targets, especially if it receives additional funding from the federal government – something he says could happen later this year.
