Nokia’s CTO for Latin America believes that Brazil’s impending auction of 5G-ready spectrum will be the world’s largest.
In an interview with Reuters, Nokia’s Wilson Cardoso noted that Brazil was the vendor’s largest market in the continent and claimed that Brazil had the “political will to carry out a large spectrum auction” in Q1 2020. He noted that Nokia was hotly anticipating 5G’s debut in Brazil.
The country’s regulator Anatel is currently finalising the licensing process, having in May allocated 2.3GHz and 3.5GHz frequencies for 5G. The 26GHz and 700MHz frequencies meanwhile will facilitate the ultra-reliable and low latency communications required for industry.
These latter frequencies were described by Cardoso as the “crown jewels”. He has previously stated his belief that 5G’s greatest impact in Latin America will be on industry, including agriculture, mining, and energy such as smart grids. Nokia is working in these sectors with partners in Brazil and Chile, and conducted 5G trials with Brazil’s TIM Participacoes in February last year.
If Anatel opts to put all four frequencies up for bidding in March 2020, Cardoso noted that it would be the world’s largest 5G auction yet. The regulator is also cooperating with other vendors, including Ericsson and Huawei, although Cardoso was confident that the Chinese vendor in particular could lose out due to the widely-known security concerns over its equipment.
He referred to Nokia as “the western alternative to Huawei’s products and their direct competitor, as our end-to-end portfolios are quite compatible.”
