Hong Kong- Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA, offered the following statement regarding Brazil’s decision to allocate the digital dividend to mobile and to adopt the Asia Pacific (APT) 700MHz band plan.
“The GSMA welcomes ANATEL’s regulation to adopt the APT 700MHz band plan for Brazil. The allocation of the 700MHz band to mobile in a harmonised manner will generate cost efficiencies in network technology and devices, enabling economic deployment to remote areas and delivering the full benefits of affordable mobile broadband services to the people of Brazil and across the region.
“As ANATEL continues to work towards the release of the band for mobile services following the digital switch-over, we anticipate that the Brazilian regulator will work closely with operators on the conditions associated with the migration process. In particular, full clarity on the timescales for clearing the band will be essential for the successful bidders and investors. Equally, any obligations associated with the digital migration process should be defined as early as possible and, certainly, before the band is auctioned.”
