Brazil’s first 5G auction brings in $8.4 bi

The 5G auction to select the operators for connectivity services using fifth-generation (5G) mobile technology raised $8.4 billion. The amount was below the $8.9 billion originally predicted by the government, as not all batches were scooped up. The information was released by Brazil’s telecom regulator Anatel after all bids were considered.

Nonetheless, Anatel declared, considering the bandwidths acquired, there was a premium (amount above the estimate) of $901 million—some 12 percent. In the coming days, the government and Anatel should decade whether this total will be earmarked as grant for the government or put towards investments in the sector.

According to Anatel, it is common for some batched to be left out. In this auction, more than 85 percent of everything for sale was traded and all coverage pledges were agreed to. The remaining batches will be included in a future auction.

The bidding process started Thursday (Nov. 4), when operators already active in the country—Claro, Vivo, and Tim—won the main auction, with countrywide coverage, for R$1.1 billion. Furthermore, regionally, companies like Sercomtel and Algar Telecom also scooped up batches, and six new operators will join the market: Winity II, Brisanet, Consórcio 5G Sul, Neko, Fly Link, and Cloud2u.

The auction encompassed four radio frequency bandwidths—700 MHz, 2.3 GHz, 3.5 GHz, and 26 GHz, with specific market purposes, split into a number of batches.