Actions Against COVID-19

Our actions to combat the effects of the coronavirus started much earlier than March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic. A committee was created in the first half of February to manage the impacts of the spread of COVID-19, initially by addressing the risks related to the global supply chain to ensure we had a full inventory of our customer activation and network management equipment, thus preventing impacts on the services provided to our customers. As the virus advanced, we put together a comprehensive contingency plan to support our commitment to care for people (employees, customers, partners and communities), particularly at the moment when everyone’s routine began to be rather significantly affected.

Starting in the third week of March, 100% of Algar Telecom’s customer service and staff activities were carried out remotely. For field technicians, whose on-site activities were maintained, and who spared no efforts to ensure the availability of our services, and for the sales teams, who phased in their return to in-person activities as certain cities gradually reopened, all sanitary care protocols were followed, including the wearing of personal protective equipment (masks, gloves, goggles, shoe covers, and hand sanitizer), in strict compliance with all guidelines from the relevant health authorities. In addition to suspending trips and attendance at events, as a way of protecting our employees, we also carried out a broad awareness program on the Company’s internal communication channels featuring key prevention methods and up-to-date local statistics (e.g. the #VaideMáscara [MaskUp] campaign), not to mention the continued support provided by our Management and Health teams where medical guidance and follow-up were needed for our employees and their families.

For our customers in the B2B segment in the health care and education sectors, we gradually expanded our traffic capacity for dedicated links. For companies that use our security management services, we created new settings so that their teams could work from home and still access all corporate system in a secured manner. For the hundreds of families to whom our services became even more important, we increased the Internet connection speeds we offer via optical fiber, we released more TV channels, and we made reading apps available, all to contribute not only to the performance of work tasks, but also to leisure and information, benefitting more than 200,000 of the Company’s customers.

Through our partners and the Algar Institute, we carried out various actions on behalf of the communities in the locations where we operate, supporting food, blood and face mask donation programs, among other initiatives (click here to learn more).

Algar Telecom has proved resilient in this situation, as we reported in this document in the Performance section. We kept up consistent cash generation and enough liquidity to take on this challenge. Nevertheless, given the scenario of uncertainties that was setting in, we raised R$150 million to preventively reinforce our cash and add even more to our strength to execute on our business plan over the course of the year.

Our operations continue with all precautions needed for this period, as we seek to turn crises into learning and growth opportunities.