Snapshot: The bidders in Brazil’s reverse mobile auction

Brazil's first reverse mobile telephony auction saw bids from five operators for 59 locations, with 45 of these receiving more than one offer, according to telecoms regulator Anatel.

The process is aimed at taking mobile infrastructure to rural and remote underserved areas. Claro, TIM, Cloud2u, Brisanet and Ligga/Sercomtel were the companies that submitted bids. 

The winners are due to be announced on October 8.

Under the reverse model, the lowest bidder for each location will be the winner and awarded a contract to deploy and operate mobile services compatible with 4G LTE and ready for 5G. 

In total, the auction received 107 bids, with discounts on the reference price reaching up to 48.5%.

In a statement, Anatel's president Carlos Baigorri said the process was a success.

The reference value to serve all 59 locations was 109mn reais (US$20mn). Because the auction saw an overall discount of 41%, it will be possible to “serve many other locations that are currently unserved,” said Baigorri.

The auction was carried out digitally and overseen by Anatel, the communications ministry and Seja Digital.

Seja Digital, or EAD, was created to manage resources related to the 2012 4G auction.

The auction is part of a broader project that foresees investments of 250mn reais to expand mobile infra in poorly connected spots and is funded from a portion of the amount paid by carriers in the 2012 tender.

More information on the process can be found here.