China’s ZTE signs partnership with Unifique, UFSC in Brazil

China’s telecoms provider ZTE signed a partnership with Brazilian internet provider Unifique and UFSC, the federal university of Santa Catarina state, to foster broadband technology innovation and talent training.

The agreement was signed at the ZTE Global Services Ecosystem Forum 2025 for the Europe and Latin America region, held in São Paulo.

According to ZTE, the parties will accelerate technology implementation and local telecommunications talent training “to inject new momentum into the digital economy in Brazil.”

Under the theme of “Ultimate Service for an AI-Driven Win-Win Future,” the forum brought together industry organizations, academic experts, operators, and network service partners from Europe and Latin America “to engage in intensive exchanges on AI-era network service innovation, project management, ecological collaboration, and digital transformation,” the company said.

Contracted in 2023, ZTE is Unifique’s core 5G provider. The ISP, which is based in Santa Catarina, also works with Huawei for network deployment.

Unifique entered Brazil’s mobile market after purchasing lot C6 in the 5G auction held in November 2021. The lot covers the southern states of Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná and Santa Catarina.

The company activated its first networks using the technology in Garuva, Santa Catarina, in November 2023.

A first batch of equipment contracted by Unifique comprises 900 sites, supplied by both ZTE and Huawei. The ISP expected to end this year with 600 mobile sites in operation.

In 2026, following delivery of the remaining 300 sites, Unifique is expected to go to market for a new supply contract.

According to data from telecom regulator Anatel, Unifique has 562 mobile base stations across 218 municipalities in Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Of the total, 496 are 5G ones.

Other ZTE telecom clients in Latin America include Peru’s Bitel and Colombia’s ETB.

Beyond 5G, ZTE is also increasing its focus on the manufacture and supply of server and data center hardware in Brazil, as previously reported by BNamericas.

Unifique itself plans to build a data center in Porto Alegre, its second, while expanding its edge computing footprint at mobile sites.

“We just approved a project to build a data center in Porto Alegre. It’s a relatively small site, 1,300m², but with the potential to serve customers who need low latency and managed services,” CEO Fabiano Busnardo told BNamericas in June.

Since 2019, the company has operated a data center in Timbó, Santa Catarina, built with an investment of 20 million reais (currently US$3.55mn) and tier III-certified.

The Timbó DC1 data center spans 685m², with 120 racks, and was originally designed to support the company’s operations, later bringing in corporate clients.

(The original version of this content was written in English)