TELB4 Telebras

Telecomunicações Brasileiras S.A. – Telebras is a Brazilian federal state-owned company, organized as a mixed-capital, publicly traded corporation, with common and preferred shares listed on B3 under the tickers TELB3 and TELB4. Created by Law No. 5,792/1972 and established in November of the same year, the company’s original mandate was to centralize, standardize, and modernize the various public telecommunications service concessionaires in the country, acting as the holding company of the former Telebrás System. Between 1972 and 1998, it controlled state fixed and mobile telephony operators, as well as Embratel, playing a central role in building Brazil’s telecommunications infrastructure up until the sector’s privatization.

The privatization of the Telebrás System in 1998 resulted from constitutional changes and the enactment of the General Telecommunications Law, which reshaped the regulatory framework and opened the sector to private competition. The companies then controlled by Telebras were reorganized into 12 regional holding companies, with four responsible for fixed telephony and eight for mobile telephony, while “mirror companies” were created to foster duopolies in different concession areas. After this process, Telebras went through a period of reconfiguration of its role, gradually resuming operating activities tied to public telecommunications policies and the provision of network infrastructure, particularly from the National Broadband Plan established in 2010 onward.

In its current configuration, Telebras acts predominantly as an implementing agency for public telecommunications policies, focusing on digital inclusion, high-capacity connectivity, and meeting the needs of public administration bodies. Its recent strategic direction has followed the guidelines of the Public Telecommunications Policies, defined by Decree No. 9,612/2018, and the National Information Security Policy, established by Decree No. 9,637/2018. In 2024, the company approved an Institutional Strategic Plan for the 2025–2030 period, aiming to direct efforts toward implementing public telecommunications policies and ensuring the company’s economic and financial sustainability, while maintaining emphasis on secure connectivity services for government bodies and digital inclusion projects.

Telebras’s business model is based on providing data and broadband telecommunications services, supported by infrastructure that combines a terrestrial fiber-optic network and its own geostationary satellite. The company has a network of more than 30,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cables crossing all Brazilian states, installed along power transmission lines, gas pipelines, and highways, part of which is granted by other state-owned companies, such as Petrobras and Eletrobras. Complementing this, it operates the Geostationary Defense and Strategic Communications Satellite (SGDC), in partnership with the Brazilian Air Force, using the Ka band for civilian broadband services throughout the national territory, while the X band is dedicated to military uses. The terrestrial infrastructure associated with the SGDC includes Space Operations Centers in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro, with high-availability data centers, as well as gateways located in military areas.

Telebras’s main services include satellite broadband solutions, corporate IP connectivity, and private data networks. Telebras SAT is the Ka-band satellite broadband service with nationwide coverage, aimed especially at remote locations and areas without adequate terrestrial infrastructure. The company also sells IP Telebras, an internet access solution for corporate clients, regional ISPs, and public education and healthcare institutions, among others, with a focus on dedicated and symmetrical connections. Its L3VPN offering, based on MPLS technology, enables virtual private networks for the integration of data, voice, and video, serving government agencies and entities that require greater security and quality of service. Additionally, Telebras provides point-to-point fiber services (P2P), high-capacity connectivity for ISPs and operators, SD-WAN solutions focused mainly on the government segment, and Wifi Brasil, a program structured to provide public points of free internet access under a contractual partnership with the Ministry of Communications.

Telebras’s customer base is concentrated in the public sector, particularly ministries, autonomous agencies, and other federal and state government entities. Under Decree No. 11,299/2022, the company was designated as the exclusive manager of the Private Communications Network of the Federal Public Administration, reinforcing its role in secure connectivity solutions and dedicated networks for government bodies. The company’s revenue consists mainly of communication and multimedia services, satellite capacity leasing, value-added services, rents, and other leases. Among the customers with the largest share in recent net revenue are the Ministry of Communications and the INSS, highlighting the importance of contracts with large federal agencies. In the private market, the company operates on a more limited scale, serving regional ISPs, companies with public outreach programs, and engaging in capacity swaps with large operators.

From a regulatory standpoint, Telebras is subject to the telecommunications framework overseen by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel). The provision of its services depends on specific concessions and authorizations, and the company holds authorizations for Multimedia Communication Services (SCM), Switched Fixed Telephone Service (STFC), and satellite operations. Compliance with technical, safety, and electromagnetic compatibility standards is ensured through the use of equipment certified and approved by Anatel, both in its terrestrial network and in its satellite infrastructure. The company also complies with environmental legislation applicable to the telecommunications sector, in areas such as waste management and energy efficiency, and structures its infrastructure and maintenance procurement contracts through public bidding processes, which reinforces its close relationship with public bodies and the legal framework applicable to state-owned enterprises.

In sustainability and governance, Telebras discloses environmental, social, and governance information in its own annual report, prepared in line with CVM regulatory requirements. The document is submitted for validation by internal governance bodies, although it does not yet undergo specific independent assurance. The company is developing its materiality matrix and defining key ESG performance indicators, supported by an internal environmental, social responsibility, and governance policy that references the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Although it does not yet conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory or formally adopt frameworks such as the TCFD recommendations, it states that it is undertaking initiatives to improve the monitoring of environmental impacts and the structured tracking of its ESG actions.

In addition to its direct telecommunications activities, Telebras holds a significant stake in VISIONA Tecnologia Espacial S.A., an aerospace-sector joint venture with Embraer Defesa e Segurança Participações S.A., in which it owns 49% of the share capital. VISIONA focuses on research, development, manufacturing, and the provision of services related to satellites and space systems, working on projects linked to the National Broadband Program and to strategic defense and government communications. Although it does not consolidate financial statements with this investee, the stake reinforces Telebras’s connection to Brazil’s space infrastructure and to technological innovation initiatives in strategic communications. Overall, the company positions itself as a state-owned telecommunications infrastructure operator, with a strong emphasis on secure connectivity and services of public interest, supported by a nationwide fiber-optic network and a geostationary satellite dedicated to full coverage of Brazilian territory.