Prosecutors want the Union to present alternatives to maintain the operator’s public utility services and, if necessary, provide resources to guarantee the continuity of operations of the former ‘national supertele’
The Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (MP-RJ) argues that the pact established to end the concession of fixed telephony from should be invalidated and disregarded from the operator’s judicial recovery process, which had its bankruptcy reversed this Friday (14). Furthermore, the Prosecutor’s Office wants the Union to present alternatives to maintain Oi’s public utility services and, if necessary, provide resources to guarantee the continuity of operations of the former “national supertele”.
In the MP-RJ’s view, the agreement to end the concession (called “self-composition term”) was imposed in a way that was detrimental to the company itself, its workers and its creditors, without supervision by the Prosecutor’s Office or approval by the court. The information is in an opinion from the MP-RJ cited by judge Monica Maria Costa, from the First Chamber of Private Law of the Court of Justice of the which suspended Oi’s bankruptcy decree.
The agreement to end the concession was signed in 2024 between Oi, the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) and the. In the order, the judge called on the parties to speak out urgently. In the opinion, the MP-RJ requested the recognition of the invalidity and disregard of the self-composition term, in order to definitively recognize the impossibility of withdrawing the amounts deposited as guarantee, as well as maintaining the determination of unavailability of the value of the arbitration object of transaction between Oi, V.Tal and Anatel, with the TCU.
Under the agreement, the operator was authorized to demobilize the network and sell copper cables and old telephone station properties. On the other hand, it has committed to keeping the service running until 2028 in around 7,500 locations where it is the only operator, in addition to making important investments in telecommunications infrastructure.
V.tal, a company controlled by BTG Pactual, assumed the investment to be made by Oi, having in return the right to part of the money that Oi expects to receive in the arbitration in which it discusses the losses of the concession with Anatel. The value of the case is around R$60 billion. If it wins, Oi will have to pay R$7.4 billion to pay off the Union’s debts and another R$7 billion is earmarked for V.tal. Only after that would the funds reach Oi’s cash register.
Resource contribution
The MP-RJ demanded the subpoena from and from for them to express their opinion on the possibility of adopting exceptional economic intervention measures, with a view to guaranteeing the continuity of Oi’s activities. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, this could happen “through the contribution of emergency public capital, if necessary”.
Oi is responsible, for example, for three-digit services (193 for Firefighters, 190 for Military Police), in addition to serving public bodies such as city halls and hospitals in the interior of the country. There are also technology and connectivity contracts for public and private companies, such as and 13 thousand lottery outlets. The big problem with maintaining these services is that most of them are loss-making, that is, they generate lower revenue than costs. This was, in fact, one of the reasons for Oi’s collapse.
The MP-RJ added that, if the Union does not invest money, nor do companies appear interested in taking over, the alternative would be for the Union itself to provide such services on its own. If none of this happens, the solution would be to stop it.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
