Brazilian government raises US8.4 billion in 5G network tender

Brazil raised 8.4 billion dollars (46.79 billion reais) in the tender for its 5G network, the second most important in the country’s history, the Brazilian government reported. The Minister of Communications, Fábio Faria, described as “great success” the process of awarding frequencies for the development of the new network in the largest economy in Latin America, with 213 million inhabitants. The final amount was very close to the 50,000 million reais estimated by the government (9,000 million dollars).

This is explained by the scant interest that was anticipated in a 26 GHz band considered experimental, according to specialists, who agreed to evaluate the overall result of the bid as “successful”.

Among the winners, Claro (a subsidiary of the Mexican América Móvil), Telefónica Brasil (owner of the Vivo brand and a subsidiary of the Spanish group) and Tim (a Brazilian subsidiary of Telecom Italia), which distributed national licenses in the main block for operation, 3.5 GHz.

“It exceeded all our expectations. We reached the final value of 46.79 billion reais already tendered, and a large part of that value will be for investments,” Faria said at a press conference after the closing of the tender.

According to the official, it is “the largest tender carried out in Latin America (in the sector) and the second largest in the history of Brazil,” behind the one for ultra-deep-water oil fields that raised 70 billion reais in 2019. (about $ 17.7 billion).

Marcos Ferrari, CEO of Conexis Brasil Digital, which represents five of the bidders, highlighted: “90% of the almost 47,000 million reais will be investments, so we will be able to have more devices connected with 5G in less time than others. countries that have already put out to tender their network “.

The new network will arrive in the Federal District and the 26 capitals before July 2022, and the installation will expand throughout the rest of the Brazilian territory until 2028, as planned. To the rest of cities, with populations greater than 30,000 inhabitants, 5G will arrive between 2025 and 2028.

Eduardo Tude, president of the Teleco consultancy, considered “very positive” that “if, on the one hand, the current operators got the spectrum they needed to develop 5G, on the other, there was also room for new companies to enter the market.”

The development of 5G includes a parallel network for the exclusive use of the government, in which equipment from the Chinese company Huawei may not be used.