Brazil’s Anatel late on Monday set 17 December as the start date of its latest spectrum auction, a sale it hopes will attract smaller players.
The telco regulator is auctioning off frequencies in the 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2.5 GHz bands, and aims to raise a minimum of 1.62 billion reals (€398.15 million). The spectrum can be used for mobile services, fixed wireless broadband, or even private communications such as those used by taxi companies, for example.
The spectrum is divided into three separate batches.
Batch A consists of one block of 2×15 MHz of 1800-MHz spectrum priced at BRL449.9 million (€110.8 million), and one block of 2×2.5 MHz of 1800-MHz spectrum priced at BRL37.8 million. It also includes two further 2×5 MHz blocks of 1800-MHz spectrum, one with a reserve of BRL59,125 and the other with a reserv e of BRL198.8 million.
Batch B is comprised of 2×10 MHz of 2.5-GHz spectrum, for which Anatel has set a minimum price of BRL283.9 million.
Finally, batch C consists of two 5 MHz chunks of unpaired 1900-MHz spectrum, one priced at BRL12.8 million, the other BRL12.9 million. Lot C also includes two blocks of unpaired 2.5-GHz spectrum, one 15 MHz chunk with a reserve of BRL35.2 million and one 35 MHz chunk with a reserve of BRL585.9 million.
"The objective is to encourage the participation of small and medium-sized service providers, or even people who do not work in the telecommunications industry," Anatel said, in a statement.
With that in mind, the spectrum has been carved up into 9,000 lots, each one covering an individual municipality. The majority of these lots carry an average starting price of less than BRL10,000 (approximately €2,500).
In addition, winning bidders will have the option to pay for the spectrum in 10 instalments, and will have the option to defer payment for 36 months.
Prospective bidders are required to express their interest in participating by 10 December.
