América Móvil wants no spectrum auctions in Brazil before 2020

América Móvil's Claro Brasil wants the government to stop holding spectrum auctions for at least the next two years, citing pressures on telcos' capex.

The country's regulator Anatel is considering awarding the 700Mhz bands not acquired in a 2014 4G LTE auction before the end of this year. Anatel is also working on a 3.5Ghz auction for 5G, which could take place in 2019.

Speaking at the Painel Telebrasil congress in capital Brasília, Claro's legal and regulatory affairs director, Oscar Petersen, criticized the plans.

He said that the remaining 700MHz bands should not be auctioned off before all cities turn off the analog TV signal, which currently occupies this spectrum.

According to Petersen's estimates, 582 municipalities will free up the 700Mhz band in 2018 and 1,246 in 2019. It has already been liberated in 1,605 localities and is available for 4G LTE.

"Everybody [telcos] is dealing with limited investment capacity. The frequencies bought in 2014 have not yet been freed up; they're still being liberated, which should end in 2019. Besides, the economic crisis led lots of states to raise taxes on telecom services, many of which did so this year with the expectation of increasing revenues, and now this [the auction]," Petersen said in his keynote speech.

"Our hope is that no auctions will be held until 2020."

With respect to the 3.5Ghz band, although recognizing that the frequency will be key for 5G, Peternsen argued that there are highly complex interference issues with satellite free-to-air TV that still need to be resolved first.

He estimates that there are 20mn satellite dishes occupying this band in Brazil, capturing TV signals.

"We learned a lot from the 700MHz clean-up process. Satellite TV has become even more important with the digitization of free-to-air TV. There are localities where satellite FTA TV has gained even more importance because of topography and range."

SPECTRUM CAP

Petersen also addressed the ongoing discussions at Anatel to raise the spectrum cap for telcos. By allowing carriers to increase the amount of spectrum they can hold, this could spur consolidation, with the combination of the spectrum that carrier possess.

He backed the proposed increase in the cap provided that it represents equal opportunities in new auctions or consolidations."We don't want specific rules benefitting a particular carrier," he added.