Brazil's telecoms regulator issued over 60 licenses for private 5G networks

Brazilian telecoms regulator Anatel has so far issued 66 licenses for the use of spectrum for private 5G networks.

The information is part of a report on two years of 5G operation in the country, considering the launch of the first network in the 3.5GHz band in Brasília in July 2022.

According to Anatel, the 66 authorizations, called limited private service (SLP) licenses, are related to the following frequency bands:

– 2390MHz to 2400MHz: 34 authorizations, held by six industry verticals;

– 3700MHz to 3800MHz: 30 authorizations, held by six industries;

– 27.5GHz to 27.9GHz: two authorizations, held by one industry.

These authorizations only refer to projects in which a company filed for spectrum license usage. They do not include, for example, private network projects with spectrum auctioned for mobile operators.

Although the number of permits seems high, many of these projects have not yet come to fruition.

And regarding 4G, Vinicius Caram, head of concessions at Anatel, said at an event hosted by outlet Mobile Time last week that most licenses have been issued for utility companies (29).

These include power utilities such as Neoenergia, as well as companies in the water services sector.

Next comes industry in general, with 13 4G licenses, followed by agribusiness (11), sports (10) and 39 in other segments.

TWO YEARS OF 5G

In these two years of 5G in the 3.5GHz band, the service reached at least 589 cities and around 30 million users, according to Anatel.

The 5G auction at the end of 2021 established several commitments, including full 5G coverage in all 5,570 municipalities by the end of 2029. 

Implementation must start in larger cities and progressively reach smaller ones.

By July 31 this year, the operators' commitments involved increasing the number of antennas in state capitals and the Federal District to at least 1 per 30,000 inhabitants.

By the end of July next year, this coverage needs to be at least 1 antenna per 10,000 inhabitants.

However, efforts are being made by telcos and public authorities to advance these activations.

“Coverage in active cities increases every month with monitoring from the agency, and shadow areas are constantly mapped to compose new public policies and predict investments in future auctions,” said Anatel.

Other Anatel data indicates that 23,098 5G antennas are currently deployed in 815 municipalities, also considering the 2.3GHz band.

They were installed by six auction winners: TIM (8,479), Claro (7,957), Vivo (5,391), Brisanet (1,075), Algar (182) and Unifique (14).

In a statement, TIM said it was the only operator to gain 5G market share in the past 12 months, with an increase of 3.1 percentage points. TIM claimed that it has activated 5G in one locality per day in the last three months. 

The company said it covers more than 350 cities with 5G, encompassing 57% of the country's urban population.

Overall, Claro led the 5G market with a 37.2% share by May, while Vivo was just behind with 37.1%.

TIM had 25.6%.