TIM Brasil buys back its fiber JV, conceding neutral networks 'lacked economics'
Five years after creating I-Systems with IHS to swap fiber capex for wholesale opex, TIM is taking control back — low occupancy killed the scale economics.
What was changed
In 2021, TIM Brasil and IHS created I-Systems, a fiber network joint venture built on the market thesis of that year: replace the high capex of fiber installation with an opex model offset by leasing the network on a wholesale basis to other operators. Shared infrastructure would dilute costs and drive expansion, because serving customers beyond the company itself would optimise capital allocation.
In February 2026, TIM bought back control of I-Systems from IHS, with completion expected in the second half of 2026. CEO Alberto Griselli's verdict on the neutral model: it 'lacked economic support' and 'stopped making sense'. The neutral fiber model in Brazil had not progressed as expected — low network occupancy and a reduced number of customers undermined economies of scale and prevented the projected benefits. TIM now plans to verticalise its fiber operations to capture efficiency and integration gains, while honouring I-Systems' contracts with third-party network users.
TIM is not an outlier. Last year Vivo bought back control of its neutral fiber network FiBrasil from CDPQ, with CEO Christian Gebara saying the model 'did not take off'; in Chile, KKR's exit from Telefónica's On Net Fibra preceded and enabled the sale of Telefónica Chile to Millicom. Griselli's assessment matches Gebara's: the industrial benefit never materialised because the incremental customers never came.
The stakes for TIM are modest but growing: broadband is about 2% of the Brazilian market and only 3–4% of TIM's revenue, yet the fixed segment grew 9.4% year over year to 359 million reais in Q4 2025, and the TIM Ultrafibra base reached 850,000 customers (+7.6%), 98.9% of it on fiber to the home. Towers are treated separately: TIM's 2025 contract with IHS Towers for 3,000 new sites remains in force.
Why it worked
The wholesale thesis required other operators to lease spare capacity; occupancy and customer counts never reached the level that diluted costs.
Full control lets TIM capture integration efficiencies across its fixed operation and keep every strategic option — V.tal merger, smaller-player M&A — on its own terms.
The model failed across competitors, not just at TIM: Vivo's FiBrasil and Telefónica's On Net Fibra went the same way, confirming a market-level flaw rather than an execution slip.
What can be applied
Infrastructure sharing only pays when the other tenants show up; a neutral network built on projected wholesale demand is capex savings in theory and stranded scale in practice.
Aftermath
Completion of the I-Systems buyback is expected in the second half of 2026. TIM will honour I-Systems' third-party use contracts, and Griselli said selling the operation is only conceivable in the face of an exceptional proposal. Tower strategy is unchanged, with renegotiated leasing terms at IHS and American Tower and a third supplier negotiation under way.