Telecoms must be treated as an essential service, says Telebrasil president

By Conexis Brasil Digital

This is a machine translation of the original press release issued in Portuguese.

Brasília – At the opening of the Painel Telebrasil 50th anniversary, this Tuesday (5), in Brasília, Christian Gebara, president of Telebrasil and Vivo, defended that the telecommunications sector should truly be treated as the essential service that it is. "We are no longer just facilitators. Today it is almost impossible to find an economic activity that does not make intensive use of networks: government, commerce, industry, services, agribusiness, health and education, among others", he noted.

In his speech, he pointed to high taxation and the excessive use of telecommunications networks by large digital content providers, the so-called big techs, as the main challenges facing the sector today. “Among the 15 countries with the largest number of cell phones, Brazil has the 3rd highest tax burden,” he said. The sector advocates including telecommunications in the cashback mechanism for low-income families of 100% CBS (Contribution on Goods and Services) and 20% IBS (Tax on Goods and Services), the same rate proposed for electricity and sanitation.

Regarding the excessive use of networks by so-called big techs, Gebara reinforced that this is a detrimental factor for the expansion of connectivity. “In Brazil, the five largest global providers of applications and content, the well-known big techs, concentrate almost 80% of the traffic on the operators’ mobile access network and 65% of the fixed network,” he showed.

The sector advocates a balance in the responsibility for investments needed to expand telecom networks, ensuring sustainability in the use of infrastructure. The issue is currently under debate at the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). “We have made three subsidy requests and now next year we will open a public consultation on the topic,” said Anatel president Carlos Baigorri during the meeting.

In his speech, he also called for attention to the impact of cable thefts, which last year left 7.6 million Brazilians without access to telecommunications services. Gebara was categorical: “Over the next 50 years, Telebrasil will continue to be a reference for the country’s digital transformations.” According to him, Brazil’s progress towards a more developed and, above all, more socially just economy depends on digitalization.

Minister of Communications: sector is the driving force behind citizenship in the country

When participating in the opening of the Telebrasil 2024 Panel, the Minister of Communications, Juscelino Filho, reinforced that the sector plays a fundamental role in people's lives. "It is essential for the exercise of citizenship because it allows access to digital and private services. Everyone depends on connectivity," he highlighted.

He recalled that everyone must work together – government and private sector – to bring digital and social inclusion to those who are not yet included. “We must bring dignity and access to citizenship to every Brazilian,” he said. Juscelino Filho also highlighted that, for the first time in history, the sector was included in the Growth Acceleration Plan, the PAC, as an axis dedicated to digital inclusion and connectivity.

When speaking about the 50th anniversary of Painel Telebrasil, the Minister of Communications congratulated the ecosystem, reinforced that there is no nation in the world without digital development and called, once again, for the State to join forces with the private sector to expand the supply of digital services to have a fairer and more connected country.

Without telecommunications, there is no inclusion and innovation

Anatel President Carlos Baigorri also highlighted that there is much to celebrate in these 50 years of Telebrasil, but that there are many challenges to be overcome as connectivity expands to Brazilian society, such as the inappropriate use of social networks for misinformation and the fight against irregular bets. He also said that it is the sector's duty to allow citizens to have safe access, without suffering fraud and scams.

The chairman of the Communication and Digital Law Commission, Senator Eduardo Gomes, recalled that institutions need to act in a synchronized, focused and agile manner to build a digital country. He stressed that Brazil cannot fall behind in digitalization and that the State and the sector must open themselves to dialogue, since innovation is the main guideline for new behaviors and values. Eduardo Gomes was incisive when he said that “the future of the sector is intertwined with the future of each country”.

Without the telecommunications sector, said federal deputy Vitor Lippi, there is no inclusion and innovation and the future we desire in the digital age will not happen. The parliamentarian spoke about Tax Reform and recalled that Brazil is the only country in the world with cumulative taxes and is in 184th position in the tax system.

"We are the only country with a tax on investment," he lamented. He also noted that Brazilian companies in the sector spend 10 times more than those in other countries. "These corrections will be made. We have sectoral issues to be resolved, but we will vote on the Tax Reform by the end of the year.

The president of the Economic Development Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Danilo Forte, congratulated the sector on Telebrasil's 50th anniversary, reiterated that no one can live without communication anymore and also reinforced the need to understand the essential nature of the service. "The future is here and it belongs to you for the country. There is no service without you," he reinforced.

Painel Telebrasil 2024
The 2024 Telebrasil Panel celebrates the 50th anniversary of the country's main connectivity and innovation event. During the event, speakers from the public and private sectors outline a vision of the future of the telecommunications sector, discussing its strategic dimension for the country's economic and social development.