A source inside Anatel says the takeover of Tele Centro Oeste Celular by the Telefonica-Portugal Telecom joint venture Brasilcel is a new variable that might make it impossible to allow Brasil Telecom and Vésper to operate PCS in the 1900 MHz band, as requested by CDMA equipment vendors as well as the telcos themselves. Anatel will have to see whether agreeing to the request would unduly benefit the technology adopted by a group that now controls 54% of Brazil?s wireless subscriber base, following the acquisition of TCO. The request hasn?t yet reached the board of Anatel and no decisions have been taken.
The 1900 MHz band is currently reserved for fixed wireless telephony using WLL. The PCS licenses held by BrT and Vésper are for 1800 MHz. They want to use the 1900 MHz band on a secondary basis but the vendors want Anatel to authorize primary use. The source says that would be even more complicated because primary use entails providing guarantees against interference as well as reserving the appropriate 5 MHz segments.
Regulation
