Visão geral da empresa Telebrás
Brazil's telephone monopoly, Telecomunicações Brasileiras, has called it quits. The government split up the company, better known as Telebrás, in an AT&T-style breakup in 1998 and sold it off in 12 pieces: eight cellular units, three regional fixed-line companies, and long-distance operator Embratel. The privatization move was an attempt to help Brazil's incumbent telecom companies better compete with more advanced US and European telecom firms. The Brazilian government also needed the cash to balance its troubled budget. The spinoff companies, nicknamed Baby Brás, have been tapping world capital markets for much-needed expansion. The Brazilian government owns 76% of Telebrás.