Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes, Anatel) is set to stage a tender for previously unsold 700MHz spectrum in the second half of 2018. According to local press reports, the plans were revealed by Juarez Quadros, the President of Anatel, following a meeting with Eduardo Guardia, the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Finance. The spectrum will be available to new or existing operators, the official noted.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Anatel auctioned the 700MHz band in September 2014, generating a total of BRL5.85 billion (USD2.39 billion) – well below its BRL7.71 billion target. While Vivo, TIMBrasil and Claro all picked up nationwide spectrum blocks, Oi did not participate in the auction. Likewise, regional operator Algar Telecom acquired spectrum within its own footprint, but Sercomtel opted not to. Another concession – nationwide barring the Algar/Sercomtel operating regions – also went unsold.
Previously, in November last year, it was reported that Anatel was also set to free up spectrum in the 2300MHz-2400MHz band for mobile use – revoking the frequencies from Auxiliary Broadcasting and Related Services (Servicos Auxiliar de Radiodifusao e Correlatos, SARC) and replay TV (Repeticao de Televisao, RpTV) licence holders. No date for that tender has been set, however.