Brazilian telecom regulator Anatel will launch a mobile spectrum auction by the end of October, according to multiple reports.The regulator will sell a license in the 1.8GHz band for the city of Sao Paulo. The license was returned to Anatel by Unicel,…
Brazilian telecom regulator Anatel will launch a mobile spectrum auction by the end of October, according to multiple reports.
The regulator will sell a license in the 1.8GHz band for the city of Sao Paulo. The license was returned to Anatel by Unicel, which trades under the Aeiou brand, as it reportedly failed to meet the terms of its contract.
The watchdog will also auction off 3.5MHz blocks in the 2.5 GHz band that were not sold in the 2012 4G auction.
Anatel did not respond to a request for comment.
The government, headed by president Dilma Rousseff, recently announced that it would reduce the telecoms ministry’s annual budget by 25%, from US$440m to US$337m, as part of a cost-saving strategy aimed at addressing the country’s political and economic crisis.
In September, the state raised R$5.8bn (US$2.4bn) from a 700MHz national spectrum auction, well below its R$8bn (US$3.3bn) target.
America Movil’s Claro was awarded the first nationwide 4G licence with a bid of R$1.95bn (US$795m),Telecom Italia-owned TIM Brasil also offered R$1.95bn for the second lot while Telefonica’s Vivo secured spectrum with a bid of R$1.93bn (US$787m). Regional operator Algar received frequencies covering only certain Brazilian cities with a bid of R$29.6m (US$12m).
Last month, the president approved the “antenna law”, aimed at reducing the duplication of mobile network antennas in urban areas, requiring mobile operators to share infrastructure, while encouraging network investments.
Under the new rule, each municipality will have 60 days to review license applications for wireless equipment deployment. Mobile operators will be awarded licenses for a minimum 10-year period.
