Tech Roundup: Small broadband providers want in on 5G

This week. Small broadband providers looking for national licenses to compete in Brazil’s 5G auction. A new bill could allow the Brazilian government to charge companies for data services. Mapping shows that spatial inequality in São Paulo grew in the last two decades.

Small broadband providers want to enter the 5G auction

After criticizing the final version of the 5G bidding notice, Iniciativa 5G Brazil — a consortium made up of small broadband providers — announced that it managed to bring together 421 internet service providers (ISPs) to take part in Brazil’s 5G frequency auction, to be held on November 4.

Why it matters. Small broadband providers are key to Brazil’s telecommunications infrastructure, as they operate in rural and countryside regions which are often ignored by large companies. Experts see them as a useful way to help expand and democratize 5G faster across the country. 

National v. regional. According to Iniciativa 5G Brazil coordinator Rudinei Gerhart, the consortium is looking for national operating licenses for the 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz frequencies. It is also considering sending a proposal for the 2.3 GHz band. The 26GHz frequencies, on the other hand, have already been discarded due to the high financial cost.

• “The vast majority of regional mobile operators have succumbed. Looking at this history, we see that operating regionally is impossible. So we are looking at the 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz bands nationally, as it is not possible to bid for all regions,” he explains.

Unfair competition. At a recent event, Mr. Gerhart highlighted that the consortium still has much to criticize about the bidding notice, namely that the government did not combine the nationwide 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz frequencies into a single bidding item.

• “The bidding notice was not created in the best way to make...