Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes - Anatel) has confirmed that its Superintendence of Grants and Resources is planning to issue subsidies to mobile operators as possible measures to foster planning for the technological transition from 2G and 3G standards to 4G and 5G standards used in mobile systems.
The president of the Agency also announced the intention to provide subsidies for replacing 2G and 3G mobile networks with 5G during the main Brazilian event, Futurecom 2023, held on October 3, 2023.
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Anatel Aims to Promote Technological Evolution
Anatel noted its objective as follows: "Technological evolution is a constant phenomenon that propels progress in all sectors of society. Concerning Personal Mobile Service (SMP) systems, the transition from Second Generation (2G) and Third Generation (3G) technologies to more advanced technological standards, such as the Fourth Generation (4G) and the Fifth Generation (5G), is a necessary step to meet the demands of new applications and business models. This transition is in favour of the digital transformation of the country and is aimed at directly benefiting consumers, various economic sectors, and industries."
"Devices restricted to or compatible only with 2G and 3G technologies utilize the spectrum less efficiently, and globally, their isolated ecosystems are becoming obsolete in meeting the demands of today's applications. Consequently, such devices tend to incur higher maintenance costs and the obligation to remain activated. It should be noted that applications serving direct machine-to-machine connections, which may require lower transmission rates, can be satisfied by new technologies and releases," Anatel noted.
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Number of Standalone 5G Stations
The thirty-day period for submitting contributions and suggestions opened on September 29th. During Futurecom 2023, an event held in the city of Sao Paulo, the president of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) also announced that Brazil, except for China, leads in having the highest number of standalone 5G stations, which are systems that achieve the highest speed and data transmission rates in this technology.
However, the president of the Agency also highlighted the knowledge gap between the telecommunications sector and the productive sectors that can utilise 5G mobile technology in private networks.
