Study: 5G will increase internet concentration among Brazil’s wealthy

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The most disadvantaged Brazilians have a far below acceptable internet quality, and this situation is likely to worsen with the implementation of 5G, which will require more investments in the installation of cellular antennas and networks in the country.

This is shown in a study conducted by Teleco, a consulting company specialized in telecommunications, for the “Antene-se” movement, which calls for more investments in the installation of antennas, particularly in areas with low purchasing power.

The study, conducted in Brazil’s main capital cities, found that the lower the monthly income – below R$1,650 (US$315)- the more people need to share the signal from the same antenna, which significantly impairs service to the point of virtually crippling wireless Internet reception in the periphery.

In São Paulo, for example, only 20 districts have an acceptable mobile Internet signal, reflecting an average sharing of the same antenna per 1,000 service users. In these places the average monthly income of 85% of households exceeds R$1,650.

With this level of service, the Internet in these locations is considered “residual,” according to global technical criteria defined by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union). In other words: the signal emitted by the antenna only reaches the device by a miracle.

This occurs in Parelheiros (São Paulo’s southern region), where over 40% of residents earn less than R$1,650. The situation is similar in Perus (north zone) and Cidade Tiradentes (east zone).

On the other hand, more upscale neighborhoods, such as Lapa, Pinheiros (west zone), Santana (north zone) and Vila Mariana (south), have more than 10 antennas per square kilometer, which renders the signal acceptable.

A service is deemed acceptable when fewer than 1,000 inhabitants share the same antenna. In the USA, this average stands at 897.

According to Teleco’s CEO Eduardo Tude, none of the other Brazilian capitals studied showed acceptable service levels, in the overall average. However, due to the distribution of antennas throughout the neighborhoods and districts, it was possible to measure the quality of signals according to the distribution of antennas in these areas.

After analyzing these data, it was possible to cross-reference it with the number of inhabitants and the average family income in these areas.

This crossing of data enabled the researchers to verify that, with the exception of São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, the other capitals (Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Manaus, Goiânia, and Florianópolis) do not have an acceptable service level for people who earn more than 1.5 minimum wage.

“The relationship between income and service quality is clear,” Tude said. “Clearly, operators seek customers with a higher purchasing power, but this situation also reveals a challenge in the installation of this infrastructure.”

According to Tude, despite the General Law of Antennas in place, which facilitates the installation of networks in municipalities, many mayors still resist and try to approve more restrictive rules as a means to ensure their bargaining power with companies.

The General Law determines that if a company submits a request to install antennas and does not receive an answer within 2 months, it can install them by default in the municipality, a result of the so-called affirmative silence.

However, in the São Paulo capital, a City Council bill tried to impose restrictions. The operators went to the field and convinced the city councilors to modify the bill. They guarantee that should there be any kind of obstacle for the installation works, the city will not have 5G.

To implement the new technology, whose license auction is scheduled for October this year, operators will be required to erect up to 10 times more antennas to support connection speeds and the amount of data traveling between antennas and cell phones.

“The more modern the municipal antenna laws are, the better the conditions of this coverage for the most vulnerable population will be,” said Marcos Ferrari, president of Conéxis, an association representing companies in the sector. “The digital deserts might not exist if the resources from the sectorial funds had been adequately invested in their purpose of executing public connectivity policies.”

Ferrari believes that if the money deposited by operators in the FUST (Fund for Universalization of Telecommunications) had been duly allocated for the expansion of networks in places with low purchasing power, the coverage and quality of services would be much better.

Studies by ANATEL’s technical area indicate that only 60 cities – all with high purchasing power – will be able to use 5G, whose packages will be expensive.

The service should start to be implemented in state capitals as of July 2022. To be implemented, the license auction is pending only ANATEL’s final approval, which should occur Monday, September 13.

If on the one hand the technological advance with 5th generation telephony should initially deepen the digital gap that separates high-income Brazilians from the poorest, on the other hand it will also be an opportunity for smaller locations, especially the most impoverished, to receive more investments.

This is because one of the rules of the 5G auction foresees that telecom companies will be required to provide 4G internet to all municipalities.