FIQE3 Unifique Telecomunicações

Unifique Telecomunicações S.A. is a regional telecommunications operator whose common shares are traded on B3 under the ticker FIQE3. Its origins date back to 1997 in Timbó (SC), when it began operations under the brand TPA Timbó Provedor de Acesso, offering dial-up internet connections over telephone lines. Throughout the 2000s, the company began using wireless internet technology, deploying service towers and antennas installed at customers’ homes. In 2006, keeping pace with the sector’s technological evolution, it began building its own fiber-optic network, initially in Timbó and later in other cities in Santa Catarina such as Rio do Sul and Ibirama, consolidating the infrastructure base that supports the current expansion of its services.

The company’s change in positioning took place in 2014, when it adopted the Unifique brand and started operating not only in the retail segment but also in the wholesale market by serving small internet service providers (ISPs) with IP link supply. At that stage, the company’s network reached around 80 cities in Santa Catarina and served more than 4,000 companies, with a predominance of the corporate market, which accounted for approximately 70% of revenue. From 2016 onward, the service offering was expanded with the launch of TV Unifique, enabling the sale of bundles of internet, landline and pay TV. With intensified investments in FTTH (fiber to the home), the revenue profile became predominantly derived from the B2C segment, reflecting the growth of the residential customer base connected via fiber optics.

Unifique Telecomunicações’ business model is centered on providing telecommunications services under a private regime, focusing on fixed broadband, landline, mobile telephony, pay TV and data center services, complemented by adjacent offerings such as telemedicine, camera solutions, home insurance and smart home. All of the company’s net revenue is attributed to a single operating segment of telecommunications service provision. In 2024, 79.8% of revenue originated from individual customers, who contract internet, fixed voice and TV content plans via the fiber-optic infrastructure. In the corporate segment, the company offers more complex solutions such as dedicated internet, cloud services and data hosting, in addition to cybersecurity services that serve companies with more demanding connectivity and availability needs.

Unifique’s technological infrastructure is one of the pillars of its operations. The fiber-optic network covers the main cities in Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, with multiple traffic routes to São Paulo, the interconnection point with global internet routes. The company prioritizes standardizing network equipment, route redundancy and facilities with stable power supply, reducing the risk of outages. Around 80% of optical line terminals (OLTs) operate with capacity for GPON and XGS-PON technologies, enabling speeds of up to 10 Gbps on the access network. The company builds its network using power utility poles, based on projects approved by the concessionaires, and carries out the final fiber connection to the customer’s home or business. In addition to the fixed network, the company has invested in a 4G and 5G mobile network core architecture, using base stations installed on leased towers, interconnected to the core via owned or leased fiber.

Unifique has also developed its own data center, whose construction was completed in 2018, certified by the Uptime Institute at Tier III level, which provides high operational availability and power autonomy in contingency situations. This asset supports the provision of cloud computing, storage, backup, disaster recovery, dedicated servers and hosting services, mainly for corporate clients. The data center infrastructure follows an N+1 architecture in critical systems and uses energy from renewable sources, reinforcing sustainability guidelines related to energy consumption. An IT Operations department monitors services 24/7, while the Technology Solutions area develops products such as WiFi Business and camera solutions, as well as cybersecurity services with threat monitoring and vulnerability management.

Unifique Telecomunicações’ geographic expansion is concentrated in Southern Brazil, with operations in Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná. Market share is particularly significant in Santa Catarina, where in December 2024 it held 20.9% market share in fixed broadband, 24.4% in landline and 8.9% in pay TV, according to Anatel data. In Rio Grande do Sul, market share was lower, with 5.7% in broadband, 1.0% in landline and 0.4% in pay TV. Presence in Paraná is considered irrelevant in terms of market share. The company operates in a highly fragmented environment, with thousands of ISPs registered with Anatel, competing both with large national operators (Claro, Vivo and TIM) and with small regional providers. Unifique is classified as a small-sized provider at the national level because it does not exceed 6% national market share, but in some locations it achieves prominent positions compared to incumbents.

In the mobile telephony segment, the company obtained in 2021 authorization to use the 3.5 GHz frequency allocated to 5G in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, expanding its scope to include the Personal Mobile Service. Mobile operations began in 2023, with the launch of 5G technology in Garuva (SC) and, by December 2024, the company had inaugurated its own 4G/5G coverage in 11 cities, serving approximately 305 thousand inhabitants. Anatel also authorized secondary use of the 700 MHz band in hundreds of municipalities in the region, with a deadline of 18 months for deployment of mobile infrastructure. In parallel, Unifique maintains a roaming agreement with TIM for coverage in areas not yet served by its own network in Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and, nationwide (except for these two states), began operating as a TIM-authorized MVNO, expanding the reach of its mobile services without the need for physical network infrastructure throughout the entire country.

Unifique’s activities are fully regulated by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), within the scope of the General Telecommunications Law and specific rules on concessions, spectrum use, interconnection, service quality and consumer rights. The company operates services such as SCM (Serviço de Comunicação Multimídia – multimedia communication service) for broadband, SeAC (Serviço de Acesso Condicionado – conditional access service) for pay TV, STFC for landline and SMP for mobile telephony, all provided under a private regime and authorized by the agency. The company is subject to regulations on quality, accessibility, station licensing, infrastructure sharing and coverage targets associated with radiofrequency concessions, including commitments to expand the mobile network to all municipalities in Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul with fewer than 30 thousand inhabitants by 2029.

Regarding environmental, social and governance practices, Unifique Telecomunicações has been structuring its sustainability agenda with the publication of Annual Sustainability Reports as of fiscal year 2022, prepared with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. These reports, available on the Investor Relations website, consolidate environmental and social information relevant to operations, including aspects of energy efficiency, use of renewable energy in the data center, people management and community relations. The reporting process is approved by senior management, demonstrating the institutionalization of governance practices aimed at transparency of ESG information in parallel with the company’s evolution as a publicly traded company on B3 through its FIQE3 shares.

Unifique’s recent trajectory has also been marked by an active inorganic growth strategy, with more than 18 acquisitions between 2021 and 2024, including companies and customer portfolios, such as Sygo Internet in Rio Grande do Sul, which added tens of thousands of accesses to the company’s base. This approach aims to accelerate the territorial expansion of the fiber-optic network and consolidate regional operations under a single technological and customer service platform. The IPO in 2021, through a primary share offering on B3, provided funds to support these investments in infrastructure, acquisitions and development of the mobile network, reinforcing Unifique’s positioning as one of the main regionally focused telecommunications providers in the Brazilian market.