TELB4: quote, dividends and indicators for Telebras

Telecomunicações Brasileiras S.A. – Telebras is a federal, publicly traded mixed-capital company linked to the Ministry of Communications, with shares traded on B3 under the tickers TELB3 and TELB4. Created by Law No. 5,792 of July 1, 1972 and established in November of the same year, the company was founded to centralize, standardize, and modernize public telecommunications services in Brazil. Between 1972 and 1998, it operated as the holding company of the so‑called Telebras System, controlling several state-owned telephone operators and Embratel, in an arrangement that structured the country’s fixed-line telephony infrastructure for decades. In 1998, in the context of the telecommunications sector reform, the Telebras System was privatized, which profoundly altered the market structure and ended the state-owned holding model that the company had exercised until then.

Starting in 2010, Telebras’s role was redesigned, moving away from its focus as an operators’ holding company to assume the role of implementing agent for public telecommunications policies. Initially, this new mission was organized around the National Broadband Plan, aimed at expanding network infrastructure and internet access in regions with low service availability. Later, guidelines began to be framed by milestones such as Decree No. 9,612 of 2018, which established new foundations for public telecommunications policy, and the 2018 National Information Security Policy, reinforcing the company’s role in strategic government communications and critical infrastructure of the Brazilian State. This transformation redefined Telebras’s positioning in the sector, emphasizing the fulfillment of public demands, digital inclusion, and support for government networks.

In its current business model, Telebras operates a national telecommunications infrastructure composed of an extensive terrestrial network and satellite capacity covering the entire Brazilian territory. The fiber optic network exceeds 30,000 kilometers, interconnecting all states in the country and forming a high-capacity backbone mainly geared toward transport networks and interconnection of strategic communication points. In orbit, the company takes part in managing the Geostationary Defense and Strategic Communications Satellite (SGDC), the only satellite that covers 100% of the national territory in high-speed Ka-band. Operation of the SGDC is shared between Telebras and the Brazilian Air Force, with Ka-band dedicated to civil and government applications and X-band reserved exclusively for military use, which reinforces the interface between civil communications, public policies, and national defense.

Telebras’s service portfolio is concentrated in a single operational telecommunications segment, with solutions mainly focused on IP connectivity, private networks, and satellite communication. Its main services include Telebras SAT, a Ka-band satellite broadband service aimed at serving remote locations, areas without terrestrial infrastructure, and corporate and government demand; IP Telebras, which provides IP connectivity for public institutions, regional ISPs, and corporate customers; L3VPN solutions based on MPLS for virtual private networks with traffic segregation and support for critical applications; and Point-to-Point (P2P) services that use dedicated circuits to interconnect sites at national, regional, or metropolitan level. The company also offers Point-to-Point TX solutions using DWDM channels over fiber optics for high-capacity backbones, SD-WAN services for software-defined corporate networks, the WiFi Brasil program under the GESAC Program, as well as digital technology services supported by the company’s Tier IV Data Center, including Edge Computing, Backup as a Service (BaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and imaging solutions.

Telebras’s market focus is mainly segmented into two major groups: the public sector and the private market for telecom and data services. In the government arena, the company serves private networks of ministries and federal and state public administration bodies, as well as demands associated with value-added services and strategic communication. The company was designated, by Decree No. 11,299 of 2022, as the exclusive manager of the Federal Public Administration Private Communication Network (RPCAPF), reinforcing its role as a provider of critical communication infrastructure for the Brazilian State. Among the customers with the largest share of net operating revenue are the Ministry of Communications and the INSS, each accounting for significant portions of revenue, reflecting the centrality of the government segment in the company’s client base.

In the private market, Telebras operates mainly in the wholesale segment, by selling network capacity and telecommunications services to carriers, regional ISPs, and companies with large communication networks. In this front, the competitive environment varies by service type: the company reports lower competitiveness in IP services due to the sharp price reduction in the national market, while finding more favorable conditions in high-capacity transport networks, leveraged by a backbone regarded as resilient. For government services, competitiveness is influenced by the ability to offer networks with value-added services such as SD-WAN, and by the use of legal mechanisms such as the Preference Law for state-owned companies, in addition to specific conditions for contracting value-added services with waiver of bidding. Demand seasonality tends to be more noticeable in the public segment, with a natural slowdown in the first quarter due to budget dynamics.

Industry regulation has a central influence on Telebras’s activities. The provision of telecommunications services in Brazil depends on licenses granted by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), in accordance with the General Telecommunications Law (Law No. 9,472/1997). Telebras holds authorizations to operate in Multimedia Communication Services (SCM), Switched Fixed Telephone Service (STFC), and satellite operation, which legally underpins the company’s data, voice, and satellite communication services. Operations require compliance with Anatel’s technical and operational standards, as well as with the environmental framework applicable to the telecommunications sector, including waste management, energy consumption, and use of restricted substances. Equipment used must be certified and approved by the regulatory agency, which affects purchasing processes, technological fleet upgrades, and investment costs, in an environment subject to exchange rate fluctuations and the need for frequent technological renewal.

In the corporate, environmental, and social governance arena, Telebras has been developing its own ESG agenda, aligned with its nature as a federal state-owned company. The company discloses ESG information in its annual report and in specific institutional documents, anchored in an internal policy that guides the integration of environmental, social, and governance dimensions into internal processes and decision-making. Although it does not yet maintain a formal materiality matrix or a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, the company uses benchmarks such as the iESGo indicator, developed by the Federal Court of Accounts, and the State-Owned Companies Governance Indicator (IG-SEST), from the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services, to monitor governance, sustainability, and innovation aspects. The ESG policy and the Sustainable Logistics Plan establish guidelines and targets related to energy consumption, sustainable procurement, business travel, rational use of resources, and environmental management, while the 2026–2030 Institutional Strategic Plan incorporates the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals as cross-cutting references for the strategy of digital inclusion, technological innovation, and sustainability. ESG disclosure actions are not yet subject to independent audit, but follow internal validation flows through the company’s governance bodies.

Beyond its direct operational activities, Telebras holds a significant equity interest in Visiona Tecnologia Espacial S.A., in which it owns 49% of the share capital. Visiona, headquartered in São José dos Campos (SP) and controlled by Embraer Defesa e Segurança Participações S.A., operates in research, development, manufacturing, operation, and provision of services related to satellites and aerospace systems. This stake is strategic because it brings Telebras closer to advanced technological capabilities in space communications and defense, reinforcing the interface between telecommunications infrastructure, national security, and the development of the Brazilian aerospace industry. In this context, TELB3 and TELB4 shares on B3 represent a minority interest by private investors in a state-owned company that combines the execution of public policies, the provision of telecommunications services in specific niches, and participation in projects of strategic relevance for the Brazilian State.