Snapshot: The multi-million-dollar fiber backbone project in Brazil's Goiás state

Goiás state in Brazil has joined the many other states in the country investing in building or upgrading fiber optic backbone networks.  

Dubbed Goiás de Fibra, the initiative being pushed by the government of the mid-western state envisions investments of nearly 500mn reais (US$87mn) over five years to establish a completely new network.

After a public consultation and market sounding session held in October 2024, the government published the project’s tender notice at the end of January. The project was initially announced in June 2023. 

The bidding session is scheduled to take place publicly and in person at São Paulo's B3 stock exchange on April 29, while bids must be submitted on April 22, between 10 am and 12 pm. The winner will be the bidder who offers the lowest price.

The tender covers the first stage of the project, which aims to connect 125 municipalities in the northern and northeastern regions of Goiás, as well as the metropolitan area of the capital, Goiânia, with a fiber optic backbone. 

This phase will cover half of the state’s 246 municipalities, and authorities expect that at least 2,300 connectivity points will be installed in public agencies. 

The entire project is being designed as large optical rings that connect the main urban centers in Goiás. The state’s backbone is planned to be both underground and aerial, with routes that include stretches along highways traversing the state. 

As the network reaches each municipality, it must be constructed using the infrastructure provided by the power utilities Equatorial and Chesp. The backbone is expected to operate using GPON (gigabit passive optical network) technology or, preferably, XGS-PON (X gigabit symmetrical passive optical network), owing to the latter’s greater capacity and flexibility for expansion. 

Additionally, the network transponders – the devices that send and receive optical signals – must have a minimum capacity of 200Gbps. The project also foresees providing power via solar energy in an off-grid model, among other features.

Contractor 

According to the terms of the tender, the contractor will be responsible for supplying the entire network and providing data, voice and advanced Wi‑Fi transport services. 

This will be achieved through the "construction, implementation, operation and maintenance of a high‑capacity network and Wi‑Fi 7 [as well as by offering] security, training and voice services for the state of Goiás," the notice reads. 

The winning company will also be responsible for all materials, equipment, software, licenses and workforce required for the project. 

Companies may participate individually or in consortiums, whether national or foreign – even those not yet authorized to operate in Brazil. 

The contract is set for 60 months, with the government estimating an 18‑month implementation phase for the network and up to 21 months for the operation phase. Further information on the tender, including technical requirements, is available here, in Portuguese.

Goiás joins states such as Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Piauí, among others, that have concessions or public‑private partnerships for fiber backbones. 

For example, Chilean systems integrator Sonda is in charge of Mato Grosso do Sul’s fiber backbone PPP. 

In addition, the network and research firm RNP is also coordinating projects for Infovias Estaduais (state fiber backbones) as part of the government’s PAC investment program. 

RNP is developing 19 of these backbones, with an estimated investment of 250mn reais between 2023 and 2026, and aims to reach 40,000km of fiber by 2026. 

Not all of this network will be built by RNP; the company will rely on partners and existing infrastructure – which it also shares with ISPs – and will utilize the optical ground wire cables from the power transmission network. 

RNP has already issued the terms of reference for selecting partners for the fiber networks in the states of Acre, Bahia, Maranhão, Paraíba, Piauí, Tocantins and Rondônia. 

It was also scheduled to launch selection processes for networks in the states of Alagoas, Amapá, Mato Grosso, Pará, Pernambuco, Paraná, Roraima, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.