Anatel expects 420 municipalities to be approved for 5G by 1 January

Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes, Anatel) expects a total of 420 municipalities to be approved to utilise the 3.5GHz band for 5G services from 1 January 2023. TeleTime notes that this figure represents a notable drop from the initial projection of 480 towns and cities.

Moises Moreira, head of the government’s Group for the Implementation of Solutions for Interference Problems (Grupo de Acompanhamento da Implantacao das Solucoes para os Problemas de Interferencia, GAISPI), cautioned that commercial launches in those locations will depend on the respective expansion strategies of national mobile operators Claro, Vivo and TIM Brasil.

Since 6 October all 26 state capitals – and federal capital Brasilia – have been approved for Standalone (SA) 5G connectivity, with the cities receiving the green-light on a rolling basis. Claro, Vivo and TIM currently operate 5G services in all locations, thus fulfilling their licensing obligations.