Anatel says it has already opened processes to determine 5G quality

Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) opened internal procedures to verify if Vivo, Claro and Tim are fulfilling their obligations in the installation of 5G networks.

The information was given by the counselor Moisés Moreira, who presides over the Gaispi (Gaispi Monitoring Group for the Implementation of Solutions for Interference Problems, the 5G committee), this Thursday (18).

The agency changed, this Thursday, the deadline for the service to be implemented in the 27 capitals. The new date is now October 28th.

Until then, however, Moreira stated that the agency can do nothing to punish companies for the quality of the new service, which has been proving to be unstable in the 12 capitals where commercial operations already exist.

In these cities, the counselor stated that Anatel will start demanding quality goals in 5G as of October 1st.

In the other capitals, where the service has a maximum term until the end of October to be provided, quality levels will become a requirement as of October 29.

“As far as I know, no company is selling 5G packages or operating with fifth-generation chips,” Moreira said.

Anatel’s Superintendent of Grants, Vinicius Caram, stated that, although 5G networks have both technologies — standalone (so-called pure 5G) and non-standalone — companies are migrating customers to 4G chips due to the lack of 5G chips. in the market. The result is that these clients use the non-standalone network.

At the agency, there is a legal discussion on how to demand quality from companies in 5G in this implementation phase.

A wing of the agency believes that, without the sale of specific fifth-generation chips, it is not possible to demand compliance with the levels promised by the technology.

The standard standalone service delivers speeds up to ten times faster than 4G and response time with “servers” (latency) of less than a millisecond.

In the non-standalone network, latency does not reach this level and, in capitals where the service has already been implemented, the signal is unstable, according to complaints from users to the agency.

Another group believes that it is possible to demand the promised quality as long as the announced plans – even if they are for migration to the new networks – announce everything that is typical of 5G.

However, according to Moreira, this discussion will only take place at the beginning of October, when all capitals should have the new networks in operation.

The telecoms are not selling 5G chips because there is a shortage of these inputs in the market. They are mainly produced in China, which had to close its borders at the beginning of the year due to a new wave of the coronavirus.

The country is also the main supplier of filters to be installed on fifth-generation antennas to avoid interference with satellites and satellite dishes.

These equipment worked on the frequency that is currently being used by 5G.

Frequency is an avenue in the air through which operators carry their signals. Outside of them, interference occurs.

With the lockdown in China, the initial 5G installation schedule has been delayed. For this reason, the Gaispi (Gaispi (Group for Monitoring the Implementation of Solutions for Interference Problems, the 5G Committee) sent the Anatel Board of Directors authorization to have autonomy in possible postponements in these cities. The maximum term is now up to two months and expires at the end of September.

5G already works in São Paulo (SP), Brasília (DF), Belo Horizonte (MG), Porto Alegre (RS) and João Pessoa (PB). This Tuesday (16), the signal was released in Curitiba (PR), Goiânia (GO) and Salvador (BA). Rio de Janeiro, Florianópolis, Vitória and Palmas receive 5G next Monday (22) after release from Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) this Thursday (18).