After operating successfully in the wholesale telecommunications market for ten years, Eletropaulo Telecom realized that the potential for expansion of residential broadband in the country deserves your attention and could help the telephone operator to answer increasing the quota of stakeholders in traffic on the Internet at high speeds without leaving home.
At the end of 2007, the company that so far only sold capacity fiber optic carrier, began to test a new technology in Brazil, using the electric wire as a means to achieve the residential broadband customers.
Today, newly regulated by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), the Broad Band over Power Line (BPL), as is known in Europe, or Power Line Communications (PLC) in the United States, awaiting only the approval of the National Agency for Electric Energy (Aneel), so that the tests made in 300 buildings can become a real market.
The general director of AES Eletropaulo Telecom, Teresa Vernaglia, explains to what extent are the tests and what are the benefits that could be brought to the consumer.
Gazeta Mercantil – Why diversify the work if the business model of Eletropaulo Telecom has been so profitable?
Do not leave the niche wholesaler, bringing capacity to continue operating so that they can serve their customers. Just invested $ 20 million in a medium that facilitates the telephone also deliver broadband to residential customers, since that market is not penetrated and demand is growing.
Gazeta Mercantil – How does electrical means for broadband?
Our fiber optic network covers 2 thousand kilometers of the São Paulo metropolitan region, with coverage of 24 counties, so air for the leases related posts Eletropaulo Energy. The network is the Km of a corporate client’s house, but the infrastructure is not required to take comprehensive broadband to the residential market. The PLC or BPL technology could achieve residential buildings through the network of energy.
Gazeta Mercantil – As the transfer bandwidth of the optical fiber to the electrical current?
The Eletropaulo Telecom equipment in place a post called gateway, which modulates the signal coming from the fiber optic network of low voltage. Each transformer feeds up to two buildings and each building can have 50 apartments. Therefore, each processor has potential capacity to carry broadband to one hundred homes.
Gazeta Mercantil – What is the speed that broadband reaches?
Up to 10 megabit per second (Mbps) symmetrical, ie both to download files (download) and to upload files (upload).
Gazeta Mercantil – There is a network architecture?
No, the other possible scenario is to bring fiber to the room of energy meters in the building, lodge and gateway, so that the signal power of the optical fiber take all apartments. The first track was called Fiber To The Transformer (FTTT) and that takes the name of Fiber To The Meter Room (FTMR).
Gazeta Mercantil – There are plans to bring broadband directly to residential customers, without going to the telephone operator?
No. Although the license has Eletropaulo Telecom Multimedia Communications Service (SCM), is not part of our plans to leave the niche wholesaler, which has ultimately brought the company a very good performance. With revenues of $ 86 million last year, the Eletropaulo Telecom won operating profit margin before interest, depreciation, taxes, depreciation and financial expense (EBITDA) of more than 50% in ten years.
Gazeta Mercantil – Who is the lead optical fiber by electricity?
We are the operators. For them are residential users, especially those who live in neighborhoods that are not appropriate offers, and the Morumbi, where there are few options, the condominiums or more distant from the center. While the telephone cable reach these locations, the ADSL technology loses power when it is situated at a distance from the telephone exchange.
Gazeta Mercantil – Installation is easy?
This is another advantage of broadband by power. The carrier will offer the service even need to send a technician to the customer’s home. He simply purchase a modem that looks like a cell phone charger into the outlet places and connecting the other end to the PC, which ensures traffic at high speed. If you want to take the laptop to another room of the residence, exchange the modem jack. Or you can install a repeater on the environment, creating an internal wireless network. There are many options and the best is that cable does not need anything, just use the background taken in the residential property.
Gazeta Mercantil – For manufacturers of modem in Brazil?
No, but the recent regulatory definition of Anatel permits the use of PLC and this serves as encouragement for those who want to make the modem here. We have imported brand of “Current”.
Gazeta Mercantil – There are other business models involved in this new technology?
In addition to expanding the scope of local operators, the PLC creates conditions for other firms to exploit broadband by electric wire. You can also use the network of medium voltage, eliminating the need to install the fiber optic by post.
Gazeta Mercantil – The Eletropaulo Telecom is in São Paulo and its related AES Telecom has presence in Rio The two networks will be enabled for the PLC?
The experiment is being done mainly in Sao Paulo, but can be brought to the river in a second time. In São Paulo there are 300 buildings and 150 connected customers testing neighborhoods de Cerqueira Cesar, Pinheiros and Moema. The tests began in November last year and awaiting the approval of Aneel.
Gazeta Mercantil – The AES has the experience in another country?
While acting in 27 countries in various continents, the network has only multinational telecom in Brazil. It has a one in Venezuela, but this was reestatizada. In other countries only serves as a distributor of energy.
Gazeta Mercantil – This technology will occupy the space of others?
I think that is unreasonable in a country so big with so many geographies, and one choice of technology. All will survive.
Gazeta Mercantil – What support was needed for the tests?
We have a central service and a team only 24 hours, 7 days a week, to emulate all situations of use of technology.
Gazeta Mercantil – What will define the growth of the PLC?
The demand for fixed and mobile phone operators. The Eletropaulo Telecom will expand the network as the demand arises. And before that was a technical and economic operators to offer a test to live and in color with 150 customers.
