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LatAm: Oi drops out of Brazil’s 700 MHz auction

In the wake of Telefónica’s acquisition of GVT in Brazil, mobile operator Oi said it won’t bid in the country’s upcoming 700 MHz frequency band auction. Brazilian carriers had until Sept. 23 to present their proposals for the auction, which is set to begin Sept. 30. The 700 MHz band will be used for LTE services in Brazil, in addition to the 2.5 GHz band, which was auctioned in 2012. Algar Telecom, Claro, Vivo and TIM have all delivered proposals for the 700 MHz auction to the telecom agency Anatel.

The absence of Oi has led to more merger speculation since Oi has already disclosed plans to buy rival TIM Brasil even though it does not have enough cash to make the acquisition alone. The total of amount of Brazil’s auction should be less than expected without Oi’s participation.

Argentina’s spectrum auction: Argentina is scheduled on Oct. 31, to begin an auction of the advanced wireless services (1700/2100 MHz) and 700 MHz band for LTE services as well as remaining spectrum in the 1900 MHz band for 3G. Broadband supplier Arlink and three major carriers ― Movistar, Claro and Personal ― have submitted applications to take part in the process.

 

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ABOUT AUTHOR

Roberta Prescott
Roberta Prescott
Editor, [email protected] Roberta Prescott is responsible for Latin America reporting news and analysis, interviewing key stakeholders. Roberta has worked as an IT and telecommunication journalist since March 2005, when she started as a reporter with InformationWeek Brasil magazine and its website IT Web. In July 2006, Prescott was promoted to be the editor-in-chief, and, beyond the magazine and website, was in charge for all ICT products, such as IT events and CIO awards. In mid-2010, she was promoted to the position of executive editor, with responsibility for all the editorial products and content of IT Mídia. Prescott has worked as a journalist since 1998 and has three journalism prizes. In 2009, she won, along with InformationWeek Brasil team, the press prize 11th Prêmio Imprensa Embratel. In 2008, she won the 7th Unisys Journalism Prize and in 2006 was the editor-in-chief when InformationWeek Brasil won the 20th media award Prêmio Veículos de Comunicação. She graduated in Journalism by the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, has done specialization in journalism at the Universidad de Navarra (Spain, 2003) and Master in Journalism at IICS – Universidad de Navarra (Brazil, 2010) and MBA – Executive Education at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.