Brazil’s Brisanet takes 5G to Pecém port

Brazil’s Brisanet will deploy nine 5G mobile antennas in the standalone 3.5GHz band in the Porto do Pecém industrial and port complex in Ceará state.

Of the total, three sites are operational, three are under construction, and the remaining three are expected to be completed by the deadline, within 70 days, as announced by the company at an event on July 9 with state authorities.

The deployment of 5G will cover the Pecém complex, export processing zone (ZPE), the federal institute of education, science and technology (IFCE), and Pecém village.

The complex is in state capital Fortaleza’s metropolitan region, between the municipalities of São Gonçalo do Amarante and Caucaia.

The 5G announcement was made by governor Elmano de Freitas as part of a broader investment plan for the complex.

Porto do Pecém is one of the biggest in the northeast. In 2023, it moved a record 482,930TEUs of cargo, up 16%.

Brisanet was one of the winners of the 5G auction held by regulator Anatel in November 2021, having secured a lot to operate in the northeast and another to operate in the center-west. 

The spectrum acquisition made Brisanet, which picked Huawei as its 5G supplier, a new entrant in the country's mobile market.

At present, the telco has 1,075 cellular antennas deployed, of which 798 in Ceará, according to Anatel data. Of those in the state, 43 are in Caucaia and one in São Gonçalo do Amarante.

The company ended May with over 102,000 customers for its mobile (4G/5G) network, a growth of over 24,000 in the month. Its mobile network covered 6.12 million people, Brisanet said in its latest operational report.

Anatel reported Brisanet as having 3,300 5G accesses in May.

Considering its fixed business, Brisanet operates in the states of Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe.

It is the fixed broadband leader in the northeast and the sixth largest in Brazil in terms of fiber accesses market share.