Brazilian telecom carrier Oi is aiming to sell up to R7.5 billion ($2 billion) in noncore assets to finance the expansion of its fiber-to-home (FTTH) broadband service.
The company filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2016 to restructure approximately R65 billion ($1.7 trillion) of debt. It is planning to sell towers, data centers, real estate assets, along with its Angolan subsidiary Unitel and other non-strategic assets between 2019 and 2021.
The company is currently working to sell its real estate assets and believes Oi can fulfill the divestment plan within the timeframe, Carlos Branda, chief financial officer of Oi, told Reuters.
With the expansion of its fiber broadband service, Oi expects to hit 16 million homes-passed in FTTH by 2021 compared to 4.6 million in 2019.
Oi, formerly known as Telemar, is the largest fixed telephone operator and the fourth-largest mobile telephone operator in Brazil. It is also the third-largest telecommunication company in Latin America.
