This article looks at Brazilian telecommunications policies over the last thirty five years. Its specific focus is the process of formation and consolidation of the Empresa Brasileira de Telecomunicações (Embratel). Emphasis is placed on the decision-making processes of the sixties, when the sector underwent a profound institutional and organization change favorable to direct State action that corresponded to the developmentalist ideals of the period. I look at the technological leap that Embratel promoted over the 60s, 70s and 80s through the implantation of the National Telecommunications System (Sistema Nacional de Telecomunicações), which linked the country up -- domestically and internationally -- through telecommunications. Finally, I analyze the process of privatization of telecommunications that took place over the second half of the nineties as part of the program for the economic reform of the Brazilian State. This created the current scenario of competition regulated by the State through the National Agency of Telecommunications (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações -- Anatel).
telecommunications policy; developmentalism; privatization; regulated competition
