Communications ministry publishes notice for projects to take internet to up to 20,000 schools

This is a machine translation of a press release by Brazil's communications ministry

The Ministry of Communications published this Wednesday (4), through the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU), the tender notice that enables the investment of up to R$ 1.2 billion to bring broadband internet and wi-fi to up to 20,000 public schools by 2026.

“The operator stops paying the Fust (Universalization Fund for Telecommunications Services) fee and instead gives me this connectivity where its network is already passing through. So, just in tax breaks, there are R$1.2 billion for these providers and operators to deliver 20 thousand connected schools,” said the Minister of Communications, Juscelino Filho, in an interview on the Bom dia, Ministro state program.

The publication determines that proposals for carrying out projects that bring connectivity to schools must be submitted from September 6 to 16, 2024, through the system available on this page: Link .

The Fust tax waiver selection notice is part of the Escolas Conectadas program, a partnership between the Ministries of Communications and Education, and is part of the New PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) with the aim of, in total, connecting all 138 thousand basic education schools in the country, with internet to be used in the classroom for pedagogical purposes.

The investment foreseen in the notice will be R$ 300 million in 2024, R$ 450 million in 2025 and R$ 450 million in 2026.

At the launch event for the notice, which took place last Wednesday (28/8), the Minister of Communications, Juscelino Filho, highlighted the importance of the measure and that the tax waiver notice has a large dimension within the strategy of the Ministry of Communications.

“We are giving freedom to operators and providers to choose schools one by one. This is a three-year waiver and we hope that, with this, we will be able to achieve our goal,” he concluded.

The connections will be made by telecommunications companies using their own resources, which will be able to deduct the investment from contributions to the fund. This year, operators will be able to use up to 40% of what they would contribute to the Fust to connect schools. In both 2025 and 2026, this percentage will be up to 50%.

The measure was made official by the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, through Decree 12.023/24, signed in May. It determines that the recognition of the tax benefit can occur without the need for intermediation by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), which is currently the financial agent responsible for the transfer of reimbursable and non-reimbursable financing for projects carried out with money from the Fust.