By January 1st of next year, around 420 municipalities will be able to receive 5G technology, said the vice-president of Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) Moisés Moreira, at an event held by Telebrasil (Brazilian Telecommunications Association), last Thursday (10).
Gaispi, Anatel’s group that monitors the implementation of 5G in Brazil, allowed the agency to vacate the 3.5 GHz band (Gigahertz) by city groups.
The authorization increased the number of municipalities that will be able to receive the technology at the beginning of next year. Before that, the release would only happen in cities with more than 500 thousand inhabitants.
According to Anatel, the metropolitan regions of the capitals and municipalities close to cities with more than 500 thousand inhabitants will be contemplated.
According to Moreira, there are 26 cities —11 of them far from capitals— and their respective regions. These municipalities will have the 3.5 GHz band, currently used by satellite dishes and radio broadcasters, released for the operators that won the auction to explore the service.
Of course, Vivo and Tim won the main tracks in the 5G auction held in November last year.
In the middle of next year, the release of the lane in cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants will also be by group of cities, according to Moreira.
“This facilitates the process from the logistical point of view and from the point of view of saving public resources,” he said at the event. “The same vehicles that are in these big cities serve the smaller cities around them.”
Operators are under no obligation to install the feature as soon as the band is released. Excluding the Federal District and the capitals, cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants need to have the 5G antenna only in July 2025, according to the commitment signed at the auction. But Moreira thinks the installation can be anticipated.
“As a matter of commercial competition, I am sure that these cities will also have their antennas turned on during this period”, he stated.
Anatel confirms the anticipation of the service by email. “It is expected that there will be activations of 5G stations in advance, as soon as the band is released, even if not in the proportion required for July 31, 2025”, says the agency.
The first city to receive 5G was Brasilia, in early July this year. All capitals and the Federal District should have the technology by the end of the same month, which only occurred in early October.
The delay, according to Moreira said at the event, was due to the lack of semiconductors, caused by the impacts of the pandemic on global logistics, and the lockdowns in China, which support a zero Covid policy.
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