Brazil's Unifique hires Chinese group ZTE for 5G roll-out

Brazilian internet service provider (ISP) Unifique hired China’s Zhongxing Telecom Equipment (ZTE) as supplier for its 5G network in the south of the country.

According to a government statement, the deal was inked last week during the trip of Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and a delegation of private sector executives to China. On the occasion, 20 companies, including state-controlled ones, signed commercial agreements with Chinese corporates.

Based in Santa Catarina, Unifique entered the mobile market by acquiring in the November 2021 spectrum auction a regional license in the 3.5GHz band to offer 5G in the southern states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.

Unifique did not provide details of the terms of the contract with ZTE. 

Chinese companies have positioned themselves as important fiber, optical and radio network equipment providers for smaller broadband carriers, making wins notably among those venturing into the mobile arena.

Last year, another major Brazilian ISP and 5G entrant, Brisanet, announced it hired Huawei as its provider of 5G antennas and related equipment. 

Unifique participated in the auction in a consortium with Copel Telecom, the former telecom arm of Paraná state energy group Copel, which was bought by the Bordeaux fund and rebranded as Ligga. Together, they paid 73.6mn reais (currently US$15mn) for the licenses.

Unifique has as obligation assumed in the tender to cover localities with up to 30,000 residents with a 5G signal by the end of 2029. According to the company, the requirement involves 421 localities in Rio Grande do Sul and 247 in Santa Catarina. Paraná's coverage will be the responsibility of Ligga.

“We are talking about high investments. We want the best, but nobody has to pay the most expensive price for it. We need to make rational use of these investments,” Unifique’s markets director, Jair Francisco, told BNamericas in a post-auction interview in reference to the selection of suppliers.

Last month, in its latest M&A move, Unifique announced a deal to acquire Santa Catarina-based ISP Brick Serviços Digitais.

According to telecoms regulator Anatel, the company ended February with 2% of Brazil's fiber broadband market, equivalent to 625,000 accesses, plus 79,700 fixed telephony lines and 25,100 pay-TV contracts via fiber.

However, Unifique leads the Santa Catarina market with 24.4% of the total 1.8mn fiber broadband accesses in the state, as of February.

The company reported a record net profit of 130mn reais in 2022, up 61.7%. Net operating revenues were 678mn reais, an increase of 48.1%.