LatAm: Brazil opens public consultation for 700 MHz auction

The Brazilian government has opened the public consultation period for its upcoming 700 MHz frequency band auction. Last year, during the  Futurecom event in Rio de Janeiro,telecom regulatory agency Anatel said that the 700 MHz auction would take place during the first half of 2014 with the goal of providing enough spectrum for LTE expansion in the country. The auction is now scheduled for August.
Anatel is also making the results of coexistence tests between digital television and telecommunications services on the 700 MHz band available on its website. The potential conflict has been the subject of many discussions among mobile operators, regulators and TV providers.
With the use of the 700 MHz band, Brazil is adopting the same LTE mobile service pattern as other countries, including the United States. Currently, Brazil’s LTE services operate on the 2.5 GHz band.
Satellite auction—Anatel also announced the winning bids for four satellite slots, in an auction that totaled approximately $68.9 million. The purpose of the auction was to strengthen the telecommunication infrastructure in the country. Seven firms initially bid for satellite positions, but only three companies were successful: Hispamar Satélites S.A and Eutelsat do Brasil LTDA each were awarded one slot;  SES DTH do Brasil LTDA had winning bids for two slots.
More news from Latin America: 

• The Dominican Republic’s telecom watchdog Indotel has launched a public consultation period for the adoption of the U.S. standard advanced television standards committee for digital terrestrial television.
• New figures released by the International Telecommunications Union indicate that mobile-cellular subscriptions will reach almost seven billion by the end of 2014. the ITU said the increase is mostly due to growth in the developing world, driven by the Asia-Pacific region, where mobile-cellular subscriptions will account for 78% of the world’s total.
• Tigo, which is owned by Millicom, plans to invest over $100 million to develop its network infrastructure in Honduras. The telecom operator has already invested around $40 million to expand its infrastructure and upgrade its data transmission network in the first four months of this year.
• In Bolivia, Tigo plans to invest $82 million to improve and expand telecom services in the country.
• Digicel released a prepaid 50 megabyte data plan in Bermuda that costs $2.50 per day.

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