Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes, Anatel) has confirmed that a further 78 towns have been approved to utilise the 3.5GHz band for 5G services from 25 January 2023.
Locations on the list are situated in the states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, Para, Espirito Santo, Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. All of the featured towns are situated in close proximity to larger population centres.
To date, 140 towns and cities have been approved to proceed with 3.5GHz launches, equivalent to 38.5% of the population. By 30 June 2023 the watchdog expects a total of 1,610 municipalities to have received the green light for 3.5GHz connectivity. Note: coverage obligations for a number of the approved locations do not actually come into force until 2025, meaning 5G launches will depend on the respective rollout strategies of Vivo, Claro and TIM Brasil.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, since 6 October all 26 state capitals – and federal capital Brasilia – have been approved for Standalone (SA) 5G connectivity, with the cities receiving the green-light on a rolling basis. Claro, Vivo and TIM currently operate 5G services in all applicable locations, thus fulfilling their licensing obligations.