Brazil selecting contractor to oversee deployment of government fiber network

Brazil’s EAF is selecting a contractor to oversee the deployment of a private, secure fiber communications network exclusively for federal government use.

EAF is the entity that manages mandatory investments by telcos stipulated in Brazil’s 5G auction, which include the federal government network as well as 5G interference mitigation works and the deployment of underwater fiber backbones in the Amazon.

As part of the obligations included in the 2021 tender, 1bn reais (currently US$173mn) of resources from telcos had to go to the development of a secure network for the use of federal government agencies.

The inclusion of the network in the auction terms was related to restrictions that the previous Jair Bolsonaro administration had on China’s Huawei.

The dedicated government network comprises two separate projects: a metropolitan fiber network, and its access networks, serving government agencies in all 26 state capitals and the federal district; and a mobile network in federal capital Brasília.

EAF’s present selection is for the fixed network.

According to an EAF request for proposals, the network will ensure “secure and stable communication for various federal government agencies” through fiber optics and end-to-end encryption.

It will also complement existing government networks, “providing greater robustness and security in the daily activities of the agencies.”

Technical proposals can be submitted to EAF until February 12.

Project

The whole project is due to have three phases. 

Phase one involves the deployment of the network to serve 6,500 federal government agencies and offices, including 320 customers of state telco Telebras, a provider of communications for the government and a partner in the project. 

The second phase involves widening deployment to serve an additional 1,565 “customer points under negotiation” by Telebras, according to EAF. Phase three could further extend it to serve an additional 4,615 customer points to be defined by Telebras. 

EAF’s call aims to select a company for the “supervision and management of the optical network construction works.” 

The selected company will be responsible, among others, for defining the construction works methodology and verifying if licenses and permits have been issued and approved by power, water, sewage and urban drainage concessionaires, as well as by the corresponding public works inspection and regulation services.

It will also be in charge of the inspection of the construction site as well as quality control and the analysis of the projects’ technical conformity, among other duties.

Construction

The construction of the network will be carried out in two stages. 

The first consists of the main metropolitan fiber network, comprising both the metropolitan backbone and the primary and secondary fiber rings. 

The second stage encompasses the access network deriving from the first – that is, the “last mile” network. 

The contracted company will be responsible for inspecting the construction of the metro rings, the installation of electronic equipment in points of presence, and for adapting the infrastructure points and equipment when necessary. 

According to EAF, this company must have proven experience in overseeing the deployment of at least 150km of terrestrial optical cables. 

The expectation is that the winning company will be announced this quarter or early Q2.

Details of the process can be found here.