A panel of Rio de Janeiro's Court of Justice (TJRJ) confirmed on Tuesday the bankruptcy of Brazilian telecom carrier Oi, unanimously rejecting appeals filed by banks Bradesco and Itaú against the ruling that had declared the company insolvent. The decision, written by judge Monica Maria Costa Di Piero, lifts the suspension that had kept the company under court-supervised restructuring, or "recuperação judicial," since 2025, and closes out a cycle of restructuring efforts that began in 2016 and resumed in 2023, according to trade outlet TELETIME.
The appeal hearing had opened in June but was paused after judge Augusto Alves Moreira Junior requested more time to review the case. When proceedings resumed Tuesday, the panel unanimously upheld the bankruptcy order originally issued by Rio's 7th Business Court, citing repeated failures by Oi to meet the conditions of its restructuring plan, including missed debt payments. The ruling also set aside a bankruptcy-law provision on asset stripping, preserving asset sales and guarantees made during the company's second restructuring, with exceptions for potential labor claims and liability lawsuits.
The same panel also ruled on a separate appeal by infrastructure operator V.tal, which had challenged a lower-court order freezing assets tied to sales Oi made during its restructuring. The appeals court overturned that freeze, removing the risk it posed to operations such as Nio, the broadband provider V.tal formed after buying Oi's former fiber unit.
Government and market reaction
Brazil's telecom regulator, Anatel, said in a statement that the court ruling "ensured the continuity of essential services during a transition phase" and that it would keep monitoring the situation closely, with attention to emergency numbers, phone service and network interconnections. The Ministry of Communications said the bankruptcy ruling does not mean an immediate service cutoff, since "in markets with competition, continuity can be ensured by other carriers," according to a statement reported by financial outlet Money Times, citing Estadão Conteúdo. The B3 stock exchange suspended trading of Oi's securities Tuesday afternoon.
According to Money Times, Oi remains the sole fixed-line phone provider in roughly 6,100 Brazilian localities, where it is legally barred from refusing basic voice connection requests. The company also holds about 14,000 connectivity contracts through its Oi Soluções unit, serving clients that include state bank Caixa Econômica Federal, the national postal service Correios, and agencies across all three branches of government. In early August, a supplier cut Oi's connection over unpaid bills, causing an outage that hit 70 Caixa lottery outlets across 18 states and disrupted security cameras and power grid circuits elsewhere, the outlet reported.
In a securities filing, Oi said it "will continue to keep its shareholders and the market informed about the progress of the judicial restructuring process, under applicable law and regulations." Following the ruling, open questions remain over the transfer of essential services and payment of pending labor and financial debts, while banks may still pursue execution of guarantees tied to the carrier's obligations.