TIM S.A. spent the first half converting a leased fiber relationship into an owned last-mile network, and that is the change that now sits underneath every other print. The May close of the remaining Isystems stake, followed by the July Ultracombo launch, turns broadband from a resale line into a controlled one. Postpaid already accounts for about seventy percent of mobile service revenue, so the mix is moving in the same direction as the asset base. Service revenue grew 6% in the June quarter, already a hair above the full-year target. The investment question is whether that mix-plus-ownership shift can keep service growth above inflation while prepaid keeps shrinking.
Operating leverage is showing up where it should. Normalized EBITDA rose 7%. The after-lease margin reached 40%. That expansion held even after folding Isystems and V8.Tech into the cost base, which is the cleaner test of whether the acquisitions are being absorbed rather than merely added. The tension sits below the operating line. Bad-debt expense rose 38%. Last year's net financial result also carried large one-time credits that this year does not repeat. Cash conversion still improved, which is why the board could keep returning capital while writing checks to clean up subsidiary debt.
The June print also showed the prepaid base still shrinking and a first-quarter price increase that lifted churn into the spring before it eased in June. Guidance already asks for service growth near 5% and EBITDA growth in a mid-single-digit band, with a large cash-return envelope. At just under $19 the ADS sits well below the fifty-two-week high and pays a high single-digit yield. Does owning the fiber last mile plus a heavier postpaid mix offset prepaid erosion and a noisier financial line, or does competition plus credit costs keep the equity in a yield box?