Brazil’s three national mobile operators, Claro, TIM and Vivo, have all switched on Standalone (SA) 5G technology in Brasilia this week, after receiving the green-light from the government.
TeleTime quotes Alberto Griselli, CEO of TIM Brasil as saying: ‘In Brasília, we intend to cover 65% of the population in 60 days with 164 towers. At launch, we will have 100 already activated, covering 50% of the population.’
For its part, Vivo has indicated that more than 2.5 million of its subscriptions are already in possession of a compatible handset; a total of 47 handsets are said to be able to utilise both the 2.3GHz and 3.5GHz bands.
Claro, meanwhile, only has around two million 5G-compatible subscriptions on its books, although 70% of the handsets sold by the cellco are understood to be used in conjunction with the new network.
On Monday 4 July the government’s Group for the Implementation of Solutions for Interference Problems (Grupo de Acompanhamento da Implantacao das Solucoes para os Problemas de Interferencia, GAISPI) approved the use of the 3.3GHz-3.7GHz (‘3.5GHz’) band for 5G use in Brasilia, paving the way for the trio to switch on their respective networks.
Going forward, Belo Horizonte is expected to be the next city to receive 5G access, followed by Porto Alegre and then Sao Paulo.
Source: https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2022/07/07/vivo-tim-claro-all-switch-on-5g-in-brasilia/