How newcomer SecureLink is vying for a slice of Brazil’s telecom pie

SecureLink, a newly launched Brazilian telecom infrastructure and services company, aims to sign 40-50 contracts with mid-to-large companies and state-owned enterprises this year.

Launched by B2B telecoms group Lotus ICT, which among other projects has a 20mn-real (US$4.1mn) contract with federal oil company Petrobras, SecureLink's aim is to offer dedicated connectivity and security services to companies in different segments.

“We don’t want to be a provider with hundreds of thousands of customers, but rather a ‘boutique’ internet provider. We are targeting the tier 2 of large companies,” SecureLink's co-founder Flavio Lang told BNamericas.

"In other words, we're not talking about giant groups, which in general are already well-served by local operators, but about large companies with widespread national operations and which are poorly served or have to deal with different data, network and internet companies."

Recently, SecureLink closed a broad contract with a client, whose name cannot yet be disclosed, which has 40 offices in Brazil and is served by 25 internet service providers in its areas of operation, according to the executive.

Regional providers represent more than 50% of the fixed fiber broadband market in Brazil, considering large and small ISPs and excluding local operators Telefônica, Claro, TIM and Oi.

In the B2B segment, the situation is reversed and large telcos dominate.

However, large operators end up charging too much for their services, whereas regional operators have limited coverage, said Lang. SecureLink wants to operate in this niche.

“Our thesis is that everything that needed to be built, covered, in terms of network, especially in the B2B segment, has already been done. Apart from more remote mining and agribusiness operations, companies in general have some fiber passed through their doors,” said Lang, who previously managed TIM’s fixed internet business.

SecureLink is relying on neutral fiber networks to offer its services. The main network provider is V.tal, but SecureLink is in talks with three other neutral and wholesale fiber companies. 

Huawei is the main supplier of customer equipment, or CPE.

In addition, SecureLink has structures in Equinix and Tivit datacenters and Telecall sites, said Lang.

In terms of network security, SecureLink’s portfolio includes SD-WAN and SASE technologies from suppliers such as Fortinet and Huawei.

NEXT STEPS

SecureLink targets annual revenue of around 100mn reais in the next two years.

The company has placed eight proposals on the market and is participating in different tenders. According to Lang, there are 25 opportunities mapped or being executed. SecureLink is also hiring in Brazil.

If the company’s plans prosper, a formal spin-off from Lotus ICT is a possibility. 

But the company’s current investments are still coming from the parent and Lang himself. According to the executive, SecureLink is well-capitalized for its take-up stage, but in the future the entry of an investment fund is not ruled out.

Founded in Brazil in 2018, Lotus ICT’s annual reported revenue reaches around US$300mn. The company has more than 200 direct and 800 indirect employees, and presence in 15 countries, including the US, the UK and China.

In Brazil, the company has executed multi-cloud, cybersecurity, next-gen communication, process automation, service management and infrastructure projects for Petrobras, TIM, Usiminas, Cemig, Eletrobras, Caixa and Correios, among others.

The contract with Petrobras was signed last year and is valid for 48 months. Lotus was the winner of one of the contract lots. The project involves the design and deployment of dedicated multiprotocol label switching links, interconnecting more than 70 operating points of the oil giant.

“We are in the delivery phase [of the contract]. We have already implemented some of these circuits. Now what we have done is we have sought other large contracts in the government area to adapt our positioning,” Helio Nobre, another SecureLink co-founder, told BNamericas.