Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts (Tribunal de Contas da Uniao, TCU) has approved the public notice for the proposed multi-band 5G spectrum auction.
There were seven votes to one. A clear majority voted to approve the spectrum sale, but one judge reportedly requested a further 30 days to scrutinise certain aspects of the proposal.
The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) was waiting for the court’s analysis to make adjustments to the notice and schedule the auction, scheduled for October. The auction is expected to raise about 45 billion reais ($8.63 billion).
Fábio Faria, the minister of communications, said on Twitter on Wednesday: “The public notice goes to [telecommunications regulator]Anatel to be published.”
The delayed spectrum sale will include frequencies in the 700MHz, 2.3GHz, and 3.5GHz bands, as well as 26GHz millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum. These bands function as “pathways” in the air for data transmission.
The grant period, i.e. the right to exploit the domains, will be from 20 years. The auction will be held in 16 knots, divided between national and regional plots.
The minister had previously said that he expected all state capitals in Brazil to have operational 5G standalone networks by July 2022.
The clearance also provides more clarity on the investments of companies that are expected to participate in the auction, particularly large incumbents Telefônica, Claro, and TIM.
