Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) has announced that it is in the process of adding 20 new cities to its ‘4G+’ LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, taking the total number of markets covered to 77 by the end of next month. The cities of Sao Jose and Itajai in Santa Catarina have activated 4G+ this week, while Natal (in Rio Grande do Norte) and Contagem (Minas Gerais) will receive connectivity before the end of the month. By the end of July, Vivo will extend 4G+ technology to Manaus (Amazonas), Aracaju (Sergipe), Belem (Para), Cariacica (Espirito Santo), Cuiaba (Mato Grosso), Dourados (Mato Grosso do Sul), Fortaleza (Ceara), Maceio (Alagoas), Palmas (Tocantins), Porto Velho (Rondonia), Salvador (Bahia), Sao Luis (Maranhao), Serra (Espirito Santo), Varzea Grande (Mato Grosso), Vila Velha (Espirito Santo) and Vitoria (Espirito Santo).
Vivo notes that the faster transmission speeds have been enabled by its use of tri-band carrier aggregation (3C), comprising its original 2600MHz LTE frequencies, re-farmed 1800MHz 2G spectrum and 700MHz ‘digital dividend’ spectrum, which is being freed up by the nation’s broadcasters on a rolling basis ahead of the November 2018 deadline. The 3C rollout is a key component of Vivo’s 2017-2019 BRL24 billion (USD7.2 billion) investment programme.