The board of Brazil's Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social (BNDES) approved BRL 3 billion in financing for mobile operator Vivo. The funds will be used for investments in the expansion and improvement of the operator's network infrastructure required for deployment of new technologies in 2011-2013, as well as R&D. Much of the resources will be used to expand the mobile internet service, with Vivo using the money to expand 3G coverage and increase capacity on its 2G and 3G networks. The goal is to make available Vivo 3G mobile internet access to more than 85 percent of the population by December this year.
