Four Brazilian carriers announced infrastructure sharing agreements for the deployment of LTE networks. Following an announcement by TIM and Oi that they had made a deal to share telecom infrastructure, Vivo and Claro also announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding to share telecom infrastructure, such as cell sites, backbone and backhaul. One major difference between the two deals is that Vivo and Claro, the two largest telecom groups in Latin America, also included 3G networks in their sharing agreement.
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As noted by Convergência Digital, RCR Wireless syndicate partner, Claro benefits the most from the deal as Vivo owns the largest 3G network in Brazil. Vivo, Telefónica’s Brazilian unit, covers 3,100 municipalities with 3G, while Claro covers 1,119 (TIM covers 593, and Oi covers 612), according to the latest data from the consulting firm Teleco.
The TIM and Oi deal is limited to physical asset sharing (towers and equipment) for LTE networks in the 2.5 GHz spectrum band.
Although the carriers have announced the agreements, infrastructure sharing for LTE still has to be approved by telecom watchdog agency, Anatel. The telecom regulator also needs to release definitions regarding spectrum frequency band sharing.
According to the telecom union SindiTelebrasil, almost 9,566 new licenses will be required to install antennas to provide LTE in the 12 cities that will host World Cup 2014 matches. A SindiTelebrasil survey shows that it will be necessary to introduce an average of 30 radio base stations per day, which will be a huge challenge considering current laws that hinder the expansion of services.
Vivo and Claro have chosen Ericsson and Huawei to supply their LTE networks. TIM tapped Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks as vendors, and Oi picked Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks.
Brazilian carriers that bought spectrum licenses in the 2.5 GHz frequency band at auction in June have until April to cover all the offices of the Confederations Cup, and by December 2013, they must also cover the branches and sub-offices of the 2014 World Cup. Of the four carriers who received license — Telefónica’s Vivo, América Móvil’s Claro, Oi and Telecom Italia’s TIM — so far only Claro has launched commercial LTE services.
According to the latest count by the industry association 4G Americas, the Latin American region now has 14 commercial LTE networks in nine countries. The first four commercial LTE networks in Latin America and the Caribbean were deployed at the end of 2011.
In its latest worldwide quarterly mobile phone tracker report, IDC noted that successful rollout of LTE networks in Brazil is key to the country’s smartphone market growth.
