Panel SA: Anatel maintains lawsuit against tele that returned 5G license and harmed connection of schools

Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) denied the request of businessman Yon Moreira, owner of Neko, against the execution of BRL 53 million in guarantees resulting from the return of licenses acquired in the 5G auction, at the end of last year. The sanctioning process follows its course.

The operator participated in the fifth generation auction in November last year and won a lot of 26 Gigahertz frequencies — avenues in the air through which the signals travel.

Neko bid almost BRL 9 million for the grants (licenses) and committed to deposit BRL 53 million in the Gape account, a group created to carry out the project to connect schools to the internet with mandatory investments arising from the auction.

However, the project went wrong and the operator wanted to return the licenses. In the decision, the rapporteur of the case, counselor Vicente Aquino, accepted Neko’s request, but recommended the imposition of a fine and ordered the execution of the guarantees – of R$ 53 million.

The company appealed to avoid payment before judgment on the merits of the case, which should be at the beginning of the year.

In the directors’ offices, reports indicate that the tendency is for the company to be punished – and in an exemplary manner.

That’s because Neko took a different path from Fly Link, a Minas Gerais provider that also gave up 5G licenses. However, the return took place only four days after the auction – and long before the contracts were signed.

A fine was charged for withdrawal, but it was not possible to enforce the guarantees [de investimento no projeto de conexão das escolas], since, legally, the deal did not come to fruition because no frequency use contract was signed. In the case of Neko, there was formalization.

Allowing her not to be punished will, according to reports, signal that “anything goes at the agency”.

If the operator is condemned, payment will be made by an insurance company, hired by the company to provide guarantees in case something goes wrong.

The founder of Neko, businessman Yon Moreira, one of the best known names in the sector, told the column that he appealed for the execution to only be carried out after discussing the merits. He wanted to be assured of his ample defense.

For him, the market did not offer technological solutions (network and consumer equipment) to make the commercial exploitation of this frequency band viable.

other business

In addition to 5G, the businessman says he is conducting a project to build a mega fiber optic network in partnership with Rumo Logística, owned by billionaire Rubens Ometto.

The idea is to take advantage of Rumo’s rail network to run cables through the interior of the country. The project will compete with that of Oi, which sold its mobile arm to concentrate investments in offering infrastructure (networks) to the market.

The main operators (Vivo, Claro and Tim) will be able to rent these fibers to provide the 5G service, mainly in the interior of the country.