Embratel is testing individual local voice and ADSL lines in three upmarket condos in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, in preparation for competing in the small business/home office market. Its license to provide local service was issued six months ago but so far it has only some 600 local-service customers in 70 cities. The slow growth reflects the fact that so far it can offer only trunk lines designed for use by large corporations. It already provided long-distance service to most of these local-service customers. Roberto Durães, Embratel?s local-service director, says the trials will last about 60 days but individual lines won?t be offered until Anatel issues rules to make unbundling compulsory. He?s confident Embratel will be successful in local service in light of the results achieved by competitive carriers in countries where unbundling has been obligatory for some time.
Competition
