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Anatel approved a public bid for technology bidding that promises to revolutionize industry, agribusiness and the routine of people and companies

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Posted on 22/03/2021 11h35

Brazil will have 5G in 2022

Minister of Communications, Fábio Faria - Photo: Alan Santos / PR

 

A faster, faster and more economical mobile internet connection. And with use in several areas, such as transport and telemedicine. This is what 5G technology promises, a reality in many countries and which is arriving in Brazil.

 

In telecommunications, 5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for mobile and broadband networks that cell phone companies began to deploy in late 2018. 5G is the planned successor to 4G networks, which provide connectivity for most current devices.

 

The company that will be responsible for implementing the technology in the country will also be auctioned.

 

About 5G and the respective innovations, the Minister of Communications, Fábio Faria, gave an interview to our team.

 

Is there already a deadline for the 5G auction?

 

Yes. The auction has already left Anatel [Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações]. It is now going to the TCU [Federal Audit Court], which will have around 60 days to make the final observations. He returns to Anatel and, in 40 days, we will have the auction. We are talking about 100, 120 days. In June, July at the most, we will be conducting the 5G auction in Brazil.

 

When will Brazilians start to have access to this 5G technology?

 

We put one of the obligations in the notice so that we have 5G in Brazil in all the working capitals, the 5G standalone, which is the 5G plus, of the highest quality, until June next year. In June 2022, we will have, in the 27 capitals of Brazil, the pure 5G working and before that the hybrid solution, which is the 5G standalone, which is a 5G that increases the speed. There is another that, in addition to speed, with very low latency that will be possible to use with the internet of things, is the communication of thing with thing.

 

What are the main differences of this 5G technology? What are the benefits for the country?

 

In 4G, we have Facetime, audio messaging, you can communicate with anyone anywhere in the world instantly. 4G came to people. And 5G does not. He came to change the life of the industries. It will be a revolution in the industries. We will have companies having a high productivity gain. The entire production chain of companies will communicate. For example, we will have a telemedicine remotely working. Here in Brasilia, a doctor can perform surgery in a room. If he has an operating room in the middle of the Amazon, for example, he can do the operation from here. Because with 5G working, the standalone has a very low latency. Why don't you do it today? Because today with an error of a millimeter on one side or the other, we can lose a life. So, the 5G standalone, the latency is very low, so there is no time lag error. It has a very high precision. We will have cars without drivers, which are autonomous vehicles, surgeries at a distance, the increase in rural connectivity, agribusiness companies will grow a lot. And several other companies will have the opportunity to evolve. I say that 5G comes to companies and industries.

 

To operate 5G in Brazil, the winning companies have to fulfill some obligations defined by the Ministry of Communications to further democratize the internet. What are these obligations?

 

At the beginning of the health crisis, we reached an increase of almost 50% of people using the internet. We were able to offer the service. President Bolsonaro issued a decree, making telecommunications an essential service, which was important for companies to be able to do all services in the states. And with that we also noticed that people started to do home office, distance learning, talking to relatives at a distance, visiting and killing the homesick people who lived far away. We observed that there are 45 million Brazilians, 20% of Brazil, who have no internet, who have no access. So, we put in the obligations first that we can take internet to all the locations above 600 inhabitants. There are 16 thousand locations. All of them will have 4G internet by 2028. We will make the North Connected, which is the region that has less internet access. Norte Conectado alone will serve 10 million people, almost 25% of the gap we have in Brazil. 48 thousand km of federal highways, a private government network, in addition to the 5G standalone that will arrive to change the lives of companies.

 

Minister, last month, you led the Brazilian mission to countries in Europe and Asia precisely to get to know 5G manufacturers up close. What were the results?

 

It was very important. First, because we took the TCU. TCU set up a working group. We had the condition that TCU had some doubts in loco in the companies.