Telecom R&D focuses on immediate needs

The ongoing transformation of Brazil's telecommunications market is pushing R&D to the fore. Its new prominence is due to the economy's liberalization, with a gradual reduction in import tariffs, growing competition at home, and a move toward the international marketplace, not to mention the desire to privatize telephone operating companies. These companies are supported by CPqD (for Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento), the R&D vehicle of the Federally held Telebras. CPqD zeroes in on such areas as digital switching, operations support, service development, intelligent networks, and more. Among the noteworthy accomplishments are the Tropico R and Tropico RA digital switches, designed to withstand sweltering conditions at 80 percent humidity and temperatures up to 40/spl deg/C (without special air conditioning), a debit-card pay phone system, optical communications devices, and operations support software.