We’re covering the pre-launch of Brazil’s first 5G network. Brazil’s plan to surreptitiously privatize Petrobras. The latest Mercosur summit. And when the coronavirus was first found in Brazil.
Brazil to have first 5G network before delayed auction
Telecom giant Claro, owned by Mexico’s América Móvil, has announced a pre-launch of 5G technology in Brazil. The move comes despite the massive delays to the auction of 5G frequencies in the country.
- As a matter of fact, Claro is relying on a technology called DSS (Dynamic Spectrum Sharing). It allows the deployment of both 4G and 5G on the same frequency band, dynamically allocating spectrum resources between the two technologies based on user demand.
- Claro and its partners — Motorola, Ericsson, and Qualcomm — will detail the network’s implementation next week.
Why it matters. The public auction of 5G frequencies was originally scheduled for March, but was pushed back multiple times due to concerns about frequency interference and uncertainties around the rules of the bidding process itself. Then, the pandemic upended the whole process.
Change of heart. As we reported in our May 8 Tech Roundup, Claro chief executive officer Paulo César Teixeira had suggested the government should postpone the 5G frequency auction....