5G Auction: Anatel sees Claro maneuver against competitors – 07/12/2023 – Panel SA

Members of the board of Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) judged that Claro claimed that there had been negotiations between the operator Winity and Vivo, before the 5G auction, for the sharing of frequencies that would only later be acquired in the event.

The declaration of the supposed prior arrangement was made in a petition from Claro to the counselor Alexandre Freire, rapporteur of the Winity case, to join the process as an interested party.

“Winity started talks with Telefônica [Vivo] on the operation in August 2021. That is, on a date prior to the auction (which took place only in November 2021)”, wrote Claro in its petition to Anatel.

However, the information is contained in an opinion of the Specialized Federal Prosecutor’s Office, AGU’s arm in Anatel, which was confidential and became public, which led the members of the agency to error.

Claro justified its claim by stating that there are contributions on the impacts of Winity’s operation with Vivo in the mobile telephony market.

The agreement was closed in August 2022, when the two companies requested prior approval from Anatel to enter into the “Agreement for the Industrial Exploitation of Radiofrequencies” and the “Agreement for the Onerous Assignment of Network Means”.

Winity’s frequencies (avenues in the air through which telecoms make their signals travel) were acquired in the 5G auction, according to which it imposed investment and coverage obligations.

At the request of the companies to Anatel, the partnership would make it possible to fulfill part of the commitments defined in the Authorizations for the Use of Radiofrequencies by Winity and, at the same time, expand the capacity and coverage of Vivo’s mobile network.

According to the rules of the notice, Vivo could not participate in the dispute over the frequencies acquired by Winity, of 700 MHz (megahertz), which allow coverage of large areas.

Behind the scenes, agency directors assess that Claro’s position reflects a strategy to protect its leadership. Today, it is the operator with the most frequencies, a basic input for providing the service. With Winity’s partnership, this leadership would be lost.

Claro’s request was denied and the company cannot be an interested party in the process, which is expected to go to trial in mid-August.

With Diego Felix

PRESENT LINK: Did you like this text? Subscriber can release five free hits of any link per day. Just click the blue F below.