Brazil’s Vice President: Losing 5G Technology Opportunity Will Mean Decades of Delay

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Vice-President Hamilton Mourão said that Brazil “cannot miss out on this sweep of history” and fail to engage in 5G technology along with the rest of the world.

“Losing this window of opportunity will mean decades of delay and loss to our society,” Mourão said on Tuesday, September 8th, in a video broadcast during the Telebrasil 2020 Panel, an online event focused on the telecommunications sector.

According to the vice-president, the installation of 5G technology should be done safely, protecting sensitive Brazilian knowledge and privacy and considering principles of efficiency, economy, and security.

Last week, President Jair Bolsonaro said he has been in contact with Brazilian authorities and with ‘other countries’ to decide on the implementation of the technology in the country. But he was adamant in saying that his decision would be the final one.

“I’m going to make this very clear, I’m the one who will decide on 5G. No one else, there will be no one second-guessing, no. I’m going to decide on 5G,” said the President over a live stream on social media.

The expansion of 5G also hinges on the frequency band auction, which is being organized by the National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL). The auction, scheduled to take place this year, has been deferred to 2021, still with no set date.

Use of the bands in which the 5G signal will operate throughout Brazil, principally that of 3,500 Mhz, will be auctioned off.

Following these statements, on Friday, September 4th, the Prosecutor’s Office lodged a petition at the Federal Audit Court (TCU), authored by deputy Prosecutor-General Lucas Rocha Furtado, for the TCU to discuss the issue’s geopolitical aspects in order to ensure that the country is not solely swayed by the closeness between Bolsonaro and US President Donald Trump.

In the petition, the deputy Prosecutor-General argues that any decision on the matter must bear “clear technical and competitive criteria” to avoid “legal uncertainties and insecurities that may jeopardize the main purpose of the auction and its ultimate goal, which is the provision of adequate service to the population.”

During Tuesday’s event, Mourão stated that the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL), and the Institutional Security Office are working to establish adequate technical parameters for the bidding process to install the 5G network in Brazil.

Huawei, ZTE, Nokia, Samsung, and Ericsson are the five companies that own 5G radio hardware, responsible for the development of 5G systems for operators. However, the debate around the fifth-generation mobile internet (5G) has gained geopolitical dimensions focusing on China and the United States.

Influenced by US President Trump, some countries have already limited the share of the Chinese multinational Huawei in the market for equipment of future 5G telecommunication lines, because of suspicions of espionage by the Chinese government.

The United Kingdom has banned the use of Huawei equipment on its 5G networks. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have also taken measures to restrict the Chinese presence in their markets. India, which faces a political dispute with China, is also in the process of banning ZTE and Huawei from joining its 5G network.

Present in Brazil for 22 years, Huawei awaits an official positioning.

To date, telecom operators are sharing a preview of 5G using DSS (Dynamic Spectrum Sharing) technology, which allows sharing the frequency spectrum already licensed by the ANATEL for 4 and 4.5G. For now, the service is still restricted to a number of Brazilian capital cities.

Source: InfoMoney