Brazilian mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) EUTV (Surf Telecom) has commenced the deployment of its long-awaited 4G LTE network in Sao Paulo – the country’s most populous city. Surf Telecom, which has held a 15MHz block of 2.5GHz spectrum since 2016, expects the network to be operational in the first quarter of 2019, starting in the municipalities of Maua and Diadema. Connectivity will not be offered to end-users, however, but will be used to support Surf’s existing MVNO clients. (Note: Surf Telecom already has a nationwide wholesale agreement with TIM Brasil.)
Company president Yon Moreira da Silva told local tech site MobileTime that 20,000 antennas will be installed on cell sites owned by American Tower and Phoenix Tower International between now and end-2020, adding: ‘Surf is the largest MVNO factory in Latin America. We are number one in net pre-paid additions in Brazil since last year.’