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Brazil: Phone and Internet Lines Are Cut for a Delinquent Rio State

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The state government of Rio de Janeiro, which is feverishly preparing for next year’s Olympic Games, has failed to pay its phone and Internet bills, triggering a cutoff in service, the phone company responsible said on Friday. The company, Oi, said it had cut the lines after the state government racked up $55.7 million in unpaid Internet and telephone bills due over three years ago. As Rio de Janeiro State pays for a number of large infrastructure projects in time for the Olympics, its tax revenue has fallen along with a drop in the price of oil.