Abranet, the national association of Internet service providers, has warned Communications Minister Miro Teixeira that there will be ?an explosion? of free ISPs controlled by telcos unless new rules on Internet access are introduced immediately. This situation would be hard to reverse, said Roque Abdo, chairman of Abranet, who met with the minister on Tuesday, February 4. The meeting was also attended by representatives of leading ISPs Terra, UOL, and America On Line.
Roque Abdo said the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) are gearing up for a ?war? with ISPs. The telcos aim to provide free Internet access using the permission Anatel recently granted for them to operate outside the original service areas stipulated at privatization. Telemar has already requested interconnection with Telefonica, he said, with the sole purpose of providing users in São Paulo State free Internet access via its ISP (iG). Conversely, Telefonica is preparing to offer its own free service, iTelefonica, to users in Rio de Janeiro, where Telemar is the ILEC, while also expanding the service throughout São Paulo State, its own service area.
If Telemar extends iG?s free service to users in São Paulo, Telefonica will have to pay Telemar interconnect fees amounting to between 100 million and 120m Brazilian Reals per year (now about 27m-33m US Dollars), Roque Abdo said, attributing the numbers to Telefonica executives. Asked to confirm or rebut this information, Terra told its media relations office to say it couldn?t comment. Telefonica also declined to comment on matters pertaining to the delivery of services outside its concession. Terra is an ISP controlled by the Telefonica group worldwide.
Local use
The rules on interconnection currently oblige the ILECs, which naturally have many more access lines than other telcos, to pay a ?local network use tariff? (TUR-L) when they route calls originating in their own networks to a CLEC, until both parties are carrying equal volumes of traffic. This arrangement benefits free ISPs, which are subsidized by the fees ILECs have to pay on their calls. Anatel has posted for public consultation draft rules on Internet access that would distinguish between Internet and voice traffic as well as prohibiting telcos from using voice traffic to subsidize other services.
Abranet also gave Communications Minister Miro Teixeira a proposal for equipping public schools throughout the nation with free Internet access. The proposal would furnish 2,625,000 free email accounts for students at 2,856 schools in 600 municipalities. The ISPs undertake to bear the cost of this service, estimated at 203m BRL over a four-year period, Roque Abdo said, adding that the proposal would be viable only if free Internet access is properly regulated.
