São Paulo City will have a 5G signal starting on Thursday, August 4. According to Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency), the release of the technology was anticipated because of an expressive number of requests for antenna installation.
The document establishes that, in this 1st phase, it would be necessary to have at least 462 stations activated by September 29. However, on Tuesday (August 2), the regulatory agency received 1,378 licensing requests. The number corresponds to almost triple the number of antennas that should be installed in the city by the end of the year.
Because of this, Gaispi (Group for Monitoring the Implementation of Solutions for Interference Problems), linked to Anatel and responsible for activating the signal, decided to release the signal in São Paulo.
According to the group, the antennas make it possible to anticipate the so-called cleaning of the spectrum in the 3.5 GHz (Gigahertz) band for the operation of pure 5G. Gaispi’s evaluation is that, as the requests exceeded the amount foreseen in the public notice, there will be no interference problems with satellite dish signals, which use the same band.
URBAN AREA
The estimate is that the coverage of the 5G signal will reach, at first, 25% of the urban area of the city of São Paulo.
“The largest concentration of antennas is in the Historical Center, in the Paulista Avenue and Itaim Bibi region. The neighborhoods of Aclimação, Mooca, and Brás, for example, will have less coverage at the beginning of the process,” informed Anatel.
The agency says that equipment has also been installed to prevent interference at 226 Fixed Satellite Service stations, and tests have been conducted to confirm the interference-free operation.
The 5G speed can be up to 20 times faster than 4G. The activation of the technology in São Paulo comes after Brasília, Belo Horizonte, João Pessoa and Porto Alegre.
NOTICE
Initially, the notice of the 5G auction foresaw that the necessary infrastructure for the activation of the signal should be installed until July 31 in all capitals. However, Gaispi asked Anatel to extend the deadline for 60 days to overcome logistical problems that delayed the delivery of equipment imported from China.
According to the rules, mobile operators who participated in the bidding have until September 29 to meet the 1st requirement of at least one 5G antenna for every 100,000 inhabitants in Brazilian capitals.
The densification of 5G coverage at 3.5 GHz in the capitals must be completed by July 2025. By 2029, the new technology must be present in all Brazilian municipalities.
Last week, Law 14.424/2022 was sanctioned, which authorizes telecom operators to install telecom infrastructure in urban areas if the competent body does not comment on the request within 60 days. Known as positive silence, the authorization should facilitate the deployment of 5G internet antennas in Brazil.
INTERFERENCE
To circumvent possible interferences in the signal of parabolic antennas in the so-called Band C, Anatel’s EAF (Band Management Entity) has created a program to distribute, free of charge, kits containing new digital antennas, converters, and cables to needy families in the Brazilian capitals who are registered in the federal government’s CadÚnico (Single Registry for Social Programs).
The order of the kit and the installation of the devices can be made on the website of the Kit Distribution Program, created by EFA.
With information from Agência Brasil