Brazil’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, has said that it is preparing regulations for the use of Ka-band satellite broadband services across the country for the first quarter of 2011. The regulator is currently locked in talks with representatives…
Brazil’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, has said that it is preparing regulations for the use of Ka-band satellite broadband services across the country for the first quarter of 2011. The regulator is currently locked in talks with representatives of satellite operators StarOne, Hispamar and Telesat, who are helping to draw up the regulations.
Anatel hopes that the first draft of the regulations will be ready by the end of 2010, when they will then be available for public consultations. It is then hoped that a tender process will be launched early in 2011. However, Anatel did not specify which of Brazil’s surplus nine orbital positions would be offered to interested companies. Brazil already has 13 civilian-use geostationary satellites operating under its orbital slots, two operated by Hispamar, two operated by Telesat and nine by StarOne.
The new regulations will define issues such as the power and quality of the receiving earth stations, among others. The first satellite with Ka-band transponders, Amazonas 3 is scheduled to be launched in 2013 by Hispamar, a joint venture between Spanish operator Hispasat and Oi, Brazil’s largest fixed telecoms operator.
Anatel will outline the methodology it is using to calculate the minimum price for the newly available orbital slots at the Court of Accounts of the Union, Brazil’s national auditing office later this month according to João Carlos Albernaz, head of satellite and orbital services for Anatel. Carlos Albernaz was talking to Brazilian telecommunications newspaper, Teletime.
Representatives from Anatel had not responded to a request for comments by the time of going to press.
