Bankrupt Brazilian telecoms company Oi has agreed to sell its fixed-line services unit to Método Telecomunicações for R$60.1 million (US$11.7m).

An agreement was reached last week between the two companies over Oi's Isolated Production Unit (UPI) Telephone Services.

This includes the transfer of its switched fixed telephony services, towers, cables, and related equipment, plus its customer base, employment contracts, and contracts with suppliers linked with Isolated Productive Unit (UPI).

The sale still requires approval from Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) and the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE).

Proceeds from the deal will temporarily provide some relief to Oi's finances. The company had warned that it was at risk of halting its operations next month if it was unable to secure funds to maintain its operations.

Oi declared bankruptcy again in November, but the company's financial struggles date back many years.

Founded in 1998 and formerly known as Telemar, Oi filed for bankruptcy back in 2016 with debts of R$65bn (US$19bn) and has been looking to sell its assets since. The company was put in what was then Brazil's largest-ever bankruptcy protection.

It had looked as though the company had turned a corner in 2022, when it exited bankruptcy protection in December that year, after six years.

Through several asset sales in recent years, the company was able to reduce some of its debt.

Last year, the company sold its fiber optic business to V.tal for R$5.71 billion ($980 million).

Its mobile business was sold for R$16.5bn ($3.23bn) back in 2020 and split between Brazil's three big mobile operators TIM, Telefónica, and América Móvil, with TIM picking up the most assets.

In July 2023, Oi completed the sale of 8,000 telecom towers to Digital Bridge's Highline, while the telco also agreed to sell selected telecom tower and property assets to American Tower Brazil.

Piemonte Holding acquired several data centers from the telco in 2021, which were used to form Elea Data Centers.