WIRELESS TRADE GROUPS WELCOME BRAZIL'S DECISION ON 1900 MHz BAND
Wireless trade groups applauded the Brazilian telecom regulator Anatel’s decision to maintain the 1900 MHz band for 3rd-generation (3G) use. 3G Americas said the decision to reaffirm that using only the 1800 MHz band for Personal Mobile Service (SMP) licenses would “sustain continued growth of mobile services in not only Brazil, but in other countries in the Americas.” Anatel last week refused a request by Vesper, a CDMA wireless local loop operator owned by Qualcomm, to utilize the 1900 MHz band, which had been set aside by the agency for 3G use, to deploy mobile networks. Vesper had acquired a license with obligation to deploy SMP services in the 1800 MHz band, pursuant to a competitive bid by Anatel. Qualcomm didn’t return a call for comment.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
“If the permission was conceded, Anatel would have to do the same for any other requests,” an Anatel spokesman said: “That would increase interference and could result in problems for SMP users, as the service would have to be stopped.” Anatel’s decision safeguards foreign investments in Brazil’s wireless market and is a “victory” for operators that have invested more than $2 billion since June 2002 to install networks in the 1800 MHz band, 3G Americas Exec. Vp Chris Pearson said. He said Anatel’s decision was a “barometer to the stability and surety of investment in the wireless industry,” and a change in Brazil’s stable regulatory framework “could be a deterrent for future investment in this industry sector.”
GSM Assn. (GSMA) CEO Rob Conway said Anatel’s announcement was a “clear signal” that Brazil was committed to creating a “stable regulatory environment for domestic and foreign investors.” He said “this has not been a debate about technology,” but “about fair competition and compliance with the regulations and contracts that guide Brazilian telecommunications.”
Anatel’s decision will encourage both operators and equipment manufacturers to invest in the GSM sector in Brazil, said Richard Downes, dir., Latin America & Caribbean, 3G Americas. He cited industry forecasts that Brazil’s GSM networks would attract $2.6 billion in capital in capital investments and $3.7 billion in operational expenditures over the next 3 years. The research firm EMC said more than 7.34 million Brazilians had become wireless subscribers since GSM was launched in Brazil in June 2002, with 38% choosing GSM, 35% TDMA, 28% CDMA. It said there were more than 825 million GSM subscribers globally on 640 networks and 469 operators in 175 countries.