TIM, Bradesco BBI extend prospecting, cut prices for Oi’s antennas

Brazilian telecom operator TIM and Bradesco BBI, the financial advisor it hired to prospect the market to sell Oi’s antennas, are struggling to find buyers for the equipment.

Because of that, the telco is extending the prospecting period and offering a large haircut on the price of the mobile base stations (MBS, includes antennas and related equipment attached to towers).

"TIM informs that it announced on its website on this date the extension of the public offer for the sale of up to 50% of the MBS acquired from the Oi Group, which will remain in force for [another] two months,” the telco said in a statement sent to antitrust regulator Cade.

The new deadline for the offer is March 4.

TIM also updated its terms for the sale of the base stations that it inherited when it acquired part of Oi Mobile's assets. The operator is now offering a 75% discount on any quantity of mobile base stations purchased and on any technology.

The operator is selling 3,514 2G antennas, 2,649 3G antennas, 1,712 4G antennas and even 185 5G-compatible ones. 

According to TIM’s documents, stations are being offered for 26,000 reais (US$5,000) each, such as 2G ones, and up to 322,000 reais in the case of multi-band antennas that can transmit 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G signals.

ALSO READ: Snapshot: Brazil's 5G antennas race

The units are either redundant or obsolete for TIM Brasil's current network. 

Most of the antennas were manufactured by Huawei, but there are also units made by Nokia and Ericsson.

Bradesco BBI reached out to potential buyers to assess interest and start negotiations. Various companies have been contacted directly but it seems that little headway has been made.

“We've had one interested in the sites so far. Not in the network asset, but in the equipment itself. It's a second-hand equipment [company]. We’re in contractual talks to see if we can move towards negotiations,” TIM CTIO Leonardo Capdeville said in a November press conference.

SITES OFFLOAD

The process is related to the 16.5bn-real sale of Oi's mobile business to Claro, TIM and Telefônica Brasil.

TIM received 7,200 mobile sites from Oi. 

As part of the conditions required for approval of the Oi acquisition, Cade ruled that around 50% of the sites purchased had to be made available to the market for up to six months from the closing of the Oi deal, a period that could be renewed for an additional two months.

If no party expresses interest, the sites can be decommissioned by the buyers. The first six-month term has just expired.

Due to overlaps and outdated technology, TIM plans to decommission around 60% of the total it obtained from Oi, or 4,700, retaining about 2,500.

Claro also has its public offer underway to sell some of the antennas inherited from the Oi takeover. 

Claro is offering around 1,950 antennas, valued at about 110mn reais, corresponding to 42% of the total amount received. The company has not yet made any public statement about any interest from buyers.