Altnets unite in Brazil to take on major operators

Brazilian media is reporting that a group of eight regional ISPs have agreed to merge to form a new, unified fibre operator, Proxxima Telecomunicacoes.

 

The deal will see Ondanet, Netmark, CPnet, Datacommection, Enteriw, Netjat, Netonline, and Toolsnet – all from the north-eastern states of Paraiba, Pernambuco, Ceara, and Rio Grande do Norte – combine their fibre networks.

 

The joint fibre network will span around 4,000km.

 

Proxxima will begin life with around 95,000 customers subscribed to their fibre network, which reaches around 350,000 homes. The company hopes to increase its subscriber count to 130,000 by the end of the year, aiming for 400,000 in five year’s time.

 

Initial pricing for broadband plans appears to be aggressive in an attempt to gain market share from their larger rivals. For example, a 200Mb/s plan with Proxxima will be charged at 79.99 reais a month (around $15.38), while a comparable plan from Vivo would cost 199.99 reais ($23.07). But not all competitors are being so severely undercut; Oi’s 200Mb/s package is 90.90 reais ($17.48), with a 500Mb/s plan offered at the same price in some cities.

 

Debt bonds to the market will be issued in 2022, with an initial public offering in the company expected to hit the stock exchange in 2023. 

 

Additional M&A is expected to be announced soon, as well as a more defined expansion of the company’s fibre network to major cities.

 

“We are closely following the operations currently in progress, whether the IPO of Desktop, Unifique, and Brisanet, as well as the M&A ones,” said Proxxima CEO, Leonardo Gomes.