Brazil’s TIM activates 15 DG renewable plants

Brazilian telecom operator TIM added 15 renewable energy plants to its distributed generation (DG) park in the first quarter.

At the end of the quarter it had 64 plants, the company said in its Q1 results report.

These units, deployed by energy firms for the telco nationwide, are responsible for 47% of TIM's power consumption. TIM said the 2023 goal is to reach 100 units, with the main focus being solar plants.

The company posted 5.7bn reais (US$1.14bn) in Q1 revenues and 437mn in net income, up 20.2% and 4.3% year-on-year, respectively.

First quarter investments were 1.29bn reais, down 3% y-o-y due mainly to a reduction in IT equipment and systems, the company said. Capex represented 22.7% of revenues in the quarter, compared to 28.1% a year earlier.

TIM is trimming down its capex, with further "relevant decreases" expected throughout the year.

The telco's mobile customer base reached 61.7mn at the end of the quarter, increasing 18% y-o-y following the addition of Oi's customers.

At end-April, sector regulator Anatel authorized TIM to incorporate Cozani, the special purpose company created for Oi's mobile assets. With this operation, TIM completed the integration of its share of Oi Mobile.

TIM also said that its fiber-based broadband service reached 76 cities with over 7mn homes passed. The number of FTTH clients grew 6.3% y-o-y in the quarter to 732,000.

In January it became the first operator to have at least one antenna in all of the country's 5.570 municipalities, with its 4G service reaching 96% of the national territory, the company said.

TIM also claims to be the only telco with 5G available in all neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Brasília, Recife and Curitiba, comprising around 35% of Brazil's urban population.