Anatel forges ahead with H Band mobile auction

Brazil’s telecoms regulator Anatel has rejected petitions to allow existing mobile operators to participate in the upcoming auction of H Band 3G mobile spectrum, BNamericas reports. In early November this year, Telemar Norte Leste (Telemar, or Oi) and SindiTelebrasil, an association representing local telephony companies, each submitted petitions to block the forthcoming auction of the H Band spectrum. With Anatel looking to kick off the tender to allocate the country’s last planned award of frequencies for 3G mobile services on 14 December, the two parties cried foul at the watchdog’s decision to prevent current operators – Oi, TIM Brasil, Vivo Participacoes and Telecom Americas (Claro) – from participating, saying it had failed to justify the reasons for their exclusion. In their appeals, SindiTelebrasil and Oi argued Anatel was acting as a bar to competition and hampering the rapid rollout of 3G services. However, this has apparently fallen on deaf ears.