London: Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA, offered the following statement regarding rules for the forthcoming Brazilian spectrum auction of the 700MHz Digital Dividend band for mobile broadband and the launch by ANATEL of two public consultations. The GSMA will be submitting comments to both public consultations in due course.
“The deployment of mobile services in the 700MHz Digital Dividend spectrum band, which has ideal characteristics for geographic and in-building coverage, is an opportunity to expand coverage in Brazil and offer higher data speeds to consumers. By the end of 2013, there were 1.3 million 4G connections in Brazil, which the GSMA expects to increase to 137 million by 20201, with access to this new spectrum.
“For this auction to be a success, the GSMA and its member operators in Brazil call on the Government and the regulator to publish a clear digital switchover schedule and to clarify the channel relocation plan, before the auction rules are published. To ensure the timely provision of mobile broadband services to the people of Brazil, this spectrum should be made available to operators as early as possible, which will not be feasible until broadcasters have migrated to other frequencies.
“This process of broadcaster migration and awarding new licences can be a lengthy and complicated one. It should not be rushed for the purposes of fundraising and it is important to have a comprehensive digital switchover plan, to which all stakeholders are committed, in order to provide clarity on when the spectrum band will be available for mobile operators in each region of Brazil.
“Before deciding whether to participate in the auction, operators need to have full knowledge, not only of the reserve prices, but also of the purchase and distribution policy for set-top boxes and/or filters for lower income families. All these measures will help to support the fast and seamless transition of Digital Dividend spectrum to mobile, making affordable mobile broadband services available for consumers throughout the country.”
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Notes to Editors
1 Source: GSMA Intelligence
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