Brazilian telecoms regulator Anatel has expressed its disappointment at a recent decision by another government agency, the electricity-focused Aneel to, essentially, abandon plans discussed by the two regulators on the vexed topic of infrastructure sharing or, more accurately, pole sharing.
Aneel feels there should be a restart to the process of agreeing new regulations for the sharing of poles between the energy and telecommunications sectors, blaming discrepancies in the terms of the joint resolution that was presented to the regulators.
It’s hard to get a precise idea about what drove Aneel's decision, but it appears to have been a response to a government decree – No. 12,068, of 2024 – which provided for the mandatory assignment of spaces on poles by energy distributors to third-party companies. Aneel was apparently against this measure.
Anatel has published a statement in which it points out that it approved, in October 2023, a proposed joint resolution on the subject, noting that this had been widely discussed with society through public consultation. Aneel’s response seems to have taken until this week to arrive.
Anatel calls the Aneel decision a setback that will have significant impacts on the expansion of the connectivity of Brazilians. It also refers to the poles as “essential infrastructure in the installation of cables used in various telecommunications services, especially internet access”.
Present infrastructure-sharing regulations between telecommunications and energy companies in Brazil have apparently not stopped ad hoc use of energy distribution poles by telecommunications operators – with all that this implies in terms of regulation and safety.
That, it seems, is why Aneel and Anatel have been attempting to put together a workable system for the use of electricity poles, one that lays out conditions for infrastructure sharing between electricity and telecommunications companies and the price for the use of space on poles.
However, we now appear to be back to square one, as one news source puts it, with doubts about when the talks will actually resume.
