• In a video conference, the president of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), Leonardo Euler de Morais, emphasized that the reuse (refarming) of the spectrum used today in 4G for the deployment of 5G is something that is already being done in other countries;
• In Brazil, a solution may be to invest in other bands for 5G.

According to TeleSíntese, a website specialized in telecommunications, the president of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), Leonardo Euler de Morais, admitted on Friday, during a videoconference, that there may be a delay for the launch of the auction notice of the 5G frequencies in the country, scheduled for the end of this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic (field tests are suspended) and deadlocks in the use of the same frequency range used by the satellite dish signal, TVRO, and by satellite companies.

The Brazilian auction for the implementation in the new generation of mobile technology will be the largest in the world, according to experts.

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“The pandemic certainly has an impact on the timeline, and also on the 5G supply chain itself,” said Morais. “We need to evolve a lot, whether in the way we address mitigation (of these effects) or in the migration strategy (for more efficient technologies and infrastructures) to end the public policy formulated,” he added.

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He emphasized that the reuse (refarming) of the spectrum used today in 4G for the deployment of 5G is something that is already being done in other countries. In Brazil, a solution may be to invest in other bands for 5G.

“There are other bands where there is a development of solutions for 5G, notably in the 2.1 GHz band, the H band, in the 700 MHz band, 1.8 GHz. Other countries are already beginning to refarming, through network upgrades. Therefore, we can catalyze 5G in Brazil using other bands. But we need to say that the main input port of 5G [the 3.5 GHz band] is still conditioned by restrictions,” he evaluated, according to TeleSíntese.

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According to the executive, the launch depends on solutions involving TVRO and satellites. “The 5G equation, or at least a significant part of it, is conditioned by a restriction imposed on public policy, which is to preserve TVRO systems. This is because the existing ecosystem in the 3.5 GHz band is already developed in equipment and handsets. But we need to evolve a lot, whether in the form of addressing mitigation or in the migration strategy, so that we can put an end to the public policy formulated,” Morais said, as reported by TeleSíntese.