Brazil’s Ministry of Communications (Ministerio das Comunicacoes, MiniCom) has launched a new initiative called ‘ConectaBR’ as it seeks to improve quality of service (QoS) levels in the mobile sector. The watchdog seeks to ensure minimum download speeds of 10Mbps for 4G networks and 100Mbps for 5G networks, and will stage periodic ‘Mobile Telephony Blitzes’ in areas that have reported poor connectivity. A municipality will only be considered ‘covered’ when the aforementioned download speeds are available to 95% of its urban area.
In addition, MiniCom says it will work to distribute ‘idle radio frequencies for small providers of telecommunications services’. There will be a particular focus on making spectrum available to municipalities where there is a low level of competition. Minister of Communications Juscelino Filho commented: ‘We are starting a public policy that will directly influence the lives of Brazilians. President Lula’s government joins together with all the actors involved to deliver a better quality of service to the Brazilian population.’