TeleGeography | Friday, 10 December 2010
Brazil’s national telecoms regulator Anatel says that six groups have submitted proposals to bid for the country’s final 3G mobile frequencies – the so-called H Band. Valor Online reports that the six are domestic operators Vivo, Claro, TIM Brasil, Oi, Nextel and CTBC. The watchdog has set up a Special Licensing Committee (CEL) which will assess the applications on 14 December. The H Band auction comprises 165 lots of spectrum with a minimum price of BRL1.1 billion (USD649 million), and BRL700 million for leftover spectrum.
At this stage though, only Nextel fulfils the basic stated requirement of the H Band auction – i.e. as an iDEN digital trunking operator it will be classed as a new entrant in the GSM/W-CDMA market. As such, if it bids for the new licence it is understood that four GSM operators (Vivo, Claro, TIM Brasil and Oi) will be restricted to bidding for the frequencies as extension bands. If Nextel and CTBC fail to express an interest in the H Band, the other operators will be allowed to compete, the paper says.
Article via TeleGeography
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