By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil’s telecom regulator Anatel has approved a R$2.41 billion (US$420 million) agreement with Claro that closes the company’s public-service concession for fixed telephony and converts decades of litigation into new connectivity investments. The deal marks the end of Brazil’s fixed-line era and consolidates what Anatel calls a new “consensual regulation” model — one that replaces lawsuits and legacy rules with negotiated commitments and legal guarantees.
Under the agreement, Claro will migrate from a public concession to a private authorization regime, freeing itself from obligations to maintain “reversible assets” and universal-service goals dating back to the 1990s. In exchange, the company will deploy fiber-optic networks in 44 uncovered localities, expand mobile coverage in 126 communities and 205 federal-highway segments, build redundant data routes including a sub-river cable across the Solimões River in the Amazon, and maintain public phones and free access points in more than 1,700 towns through 2028. These commitments will be guaranteed and monitored until 2037.
According to Anatel commissioner Alexandre Freire, the move represents a “new paradigm of consensuality,” where the regulator, the Attorney-General’s Office and telecom operators negotiate investment obligations with prior legal validation rather than prolonged litigation. “Consensuality is no longer a choice — it’s an inevitable path,” Freire said. The Claro agreement follows similar transitions by Oi (OIBR3), Telefônica/Vivo (VIVT3) and Algar, effectively ending the need for new fixed-line concession tenders.
Anatel views the shift as an institutional milestone, closing the chapter on the legacy public-service model and channeling regulatory value into digital infrastructure — from schools and highways to the Amazon. For carriers, it releases capital previously tied up in obsolete obligations; for the state, it signals the rise of a cooperative regulatory regime built on verifiable social goals and enforceable delivery — a digital future built from the ashes of analog litigation.
The agreement comes as Claro., a unit of América Móvil, reports strong performance in 2025. Net revenue rose 5.4% year-over-year in 3Q25 to R$13.1 billion, led by an 8% gain in mobile services, with EBITDA reaching R$5.9 billion and a margin of 45.4%. Claro ended the quarter with 89.3 million mobile subscribers, including 18.4 million 5G customers and a 35.4% market share. Fixed broadband continued to grow, with a 19.7% share and leadership in ultra-high-speed connections