UPDATE: Claro Brasil has joined Vivo and TIM Brasil in abandoning its sale of surplus assets acquired through the three-way acquisition of Oi Movel.
Claro obtained around 4700 cell sites in the acquisition, and put nearly 2000 of these up for sale in July 2022. On 19th March 2023, it informed CADE of its plans to scrap the sale of these assets.
ORIGINAL STORY: Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) has scrapped its attempt to sell off surplus base stations formerly belonging to Oi Movel after they failed to attract any bids.
Last year, Vivo alongside rivals Claro and TIM Brasil received regulatory clearance to acquire Oi’s assets subject to several conditions - one of which was the divestment of half the base stations acquired through the public offering.
In accordance with this, Vivo made 2700 base stations available for purchase. On 14th March, the operator informed CADE (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica / Administrative Council for Economic Defence) that the infrastructure had attracted no interest and that it planned to abandon the sale.
The situation echoes that of TIM Brasil, which attempted a sale of Oi’s former towers last week and similarly failed to attract any bidders. Given the lack of interest in the infrastructure, TIM has requested CADE to consider the divestment obligation as being completed.
