Brazil has slashed the tax on machine-to-machine (M2M) devices, boosting the telecom industry. GSMA has welcomed the move today.
Brazil’s Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo made the announcement. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed the regulation that will reduce the SIM card tax on M2M devices, providing a stimulus for operators to develop services, such as smart metering, car tracking or remote health monitoring.
GSMA has urged other governments to reduce tax on M2M devices.
The decree will cut two fees in the Telecommunications Inspection Fund (FISTEL) – the Installation Inspection Tax (TFI), which is charged when a SIM is first activated and the Operation Inspection Fee (TFF), an annual charge on each active SIM. This equates to a combined reduction of 80 percent.
There are approximately 8.7 million M2M connections active in Brazil, said GSMA Intelligence. GSMA recently released a report called The Mobile Economy Latin America that predicted 84 million M2M connections by 2017.
Pix: GSMA
