Lagging in current technologies, Brazil eyes a 5G spectrum auction

Brazil plans to enter the 5G era next year, according to Anatel—the country’s telecommunications regulator. The government’s goal is to auction the 5G spectrum in March 2020, hoping to foster investments and make sure there will be enough coverage throughout the country, something that has been lacking only 20 years after the sector was opened for private actors.

“We are not going to donate the spectrum as China did, but to consolidate the 5G ecosystem in Brazil we need an invitation for bids that compels companies to make it, not to pay for it. It is not going to be an auction to raise money, because what we will get from revenues and taxes further down the line will be much bigger than the value of the auction,” said Leonardo Euler de Morais, to newspaper Valor.

Bidding proposals may start as soon as the second...