Entities in the telecommunications sector have expressed concerns regarding certain points exposed in the proposal recently approved by the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) regarding new rules for sharing poles with electricity distributors. In a joint note, the associations and representatives of the segment indicated that they maintain their commitment to institutional dialogue, but do not exclude “other measures”, which include administrative and even judicial resources, if elements that compromise legal certainty and regulatory balance persist.
Abramulti, Abrint, Apronet, Associação NEO, Conexis Brasil Digital, InternetSul, Redetelesul and TelComp sign the note.
According to the entities, although the text provides specific advances, the telecommunications sector considers that the project, in its economic essence, “does not take into account important premises of justice and balance”. The sector claims to already pay more than 3 billion reais per year to energy distributors for the use of the poles. These values, they argue, do not follow cost methodologies, reflect the exercise of monopolistic power, and include elements of cross-subsidization unrelated to sharing activity.
The associations affirm that the definition of a price calculated exclusively according to the incremental costs applicable to the fixing points and the charging of the replenishment costs of the one who caused the disorder, whatever the sector, are essential points for the telecommunications sector.
“The pricing methodology to be adopted must strictly respect incremental costs, without unjustified increases that harm the expansion of connectivity. The proposal to impute, in the general pricing methodology, the costs of removing unidentified assets is not correct in relation to companies that have always fulfilled their contracts. They will be punished by being forced to pay for the mess caused by third parties or the failure of the inspection of the distributors themselves,” they said, in a note.
Aneel approved a regulatory proposal earlier this month. In an intermediate way, the council decided not to force energy distributors to transfer the commercial operation of the poles to third parties, called “posters”. The vote approved by the board of directors was constructed by director Agnès da Costa, who considers that the decision made the discussion more “mature” from a regulatory point of view and indicated that she was open to dialogue with the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to build a consensus for a new standard.
“I think the resolution has become richer because it has given regulatory agencies a much broader regulatory repertoire. Perhaps I have an optimistic view in the sense that we have presented a much richer menu of alternatives for regulation and we will be able to focus on specific cases,” he told Value.
Anatel reported this week that the procedure had been transmitted to advisor Alexandre Freire to complete the decision on the subject. The complementation must also take into account the opinion prepared by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, an organ of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (AGU), which supported Aneel’s understanding that the Government Decree of 2024 does not impose on electricity distributors the mandatory allocation of spaces on poles.
At Valuethe advisor said that, according to his assessment, even after the AGU opinion, the regulatory debate remains open at Anatel, because the opinion, although binding for the public prosecutor’s offices, has the character of an opinion for the committees of the regulatory agencies. Furthermore, he emphasizes that the subject itself can still be discussed again within the framework of the AGU, either by the General Council of the Union or by the Minister of the AGU, while the ministries and agencies continue to seek a jointly constructed solution.
“As rapporteur of the process, I understand that there are still important questions to be explored in greater depth, listening to both the energy and telecommunications sectors. Our goal is to find a balanced solution, which guarantees legal certainty and efficiency in the use of this essential infrastructure. The subject remains under analysis within the agency, with full openness to contributions,” he said.
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