SÃO PAULO (WiMAX Day). Brazilian telecoms giant Brasil Telecom Participações (BrT) announced that it will deploy a commercial WiMAX network in the cities of São Paulo, Curitiba and Porto Alegre. The company has selected Alcatel-Lucent to supply WiMAX equipment for the network using the 802.16e mobile WiMAX standard.

In a press release made by Alcatel today, the company said it will provide BrT with an end-to-end WiMAX solution, including base stations, wireless access controllers, backbone links, Ethernet MXC 9500 links, IP aggregation equipment, software and application platforms. It also will provide design and planning for end-to-end integration of the network as well as provisioning services for Brasil Telecom’s network.

BrT intends that its WiMAX network will enable the company to provide state-of-the-art services “particularly in the rural and urban regions that today do not have access to many of the services those in more urban areas take for granted. This network will enable us to fully meet our customers’ services requirements in São Paulo, Curitiba and Porto Alegre, in addition to its surrounding region,” said Mauro Fukuda, Brasil Telecom Director of Technology and Architecture.

The 3.5 GHz spectrum that BrT will use for its network was awarded in 2003 and acquired by BrT in 2004. The company has stated that it wishes to receive more WiMAX spectrum in Brazil, and the company was successful in blocking the auction of 3.5 GHz spectrum last year from which it was blocked from participation. Since then, the communications ministry Anatel has been unable to re-launch the auction.

The race for mobility
The 3.5 GHz frequency range is presently classified for “fixed wireless” use in Brazil. However, numerous companies, including BrT, have petitioned Anatel to release this restriction so that mobile WiMAX services can be offered.

At a telecommunications conference in the city of Florianópolis yesterday, the minister of communications, Hélio Costa, said that current regulation restricts the 3.5 GHz frequency from mobile use, and should be used only by those companies that offer fixed telephony. Part of the spectrum licensing process is now stalled over this issue, and in fact many companies are planning to offer mobile WiMAX despite government regulations.

Minister Costa said according to the current regulations, a company would need to an SMP or SME license, which allows for mobile telephony. Such an interpretation of the regulations would mean a company such as BrT could offer mobile WiMAX.

The president of Anatel, Ronaldo Sardenberg, was quoted in a report by Valor Econômico saying that the intention of Anatel was not to scare the market by allowing mobile WiMAX at a moment when it is also preparing licenses for 3G spectrum, because mobile WiMAX is regarded as a competitor to 3G.

Commenting on this perspective, Minister Costa said “the convergence of Internet technologies and telecommunications services is the new paradigm that mobilizes all countries, and inspires different steps and does not yet offer definitive solutions.”

Minister Costa was understood to defend policies that would popularise mobile broadband, and said it is important to look at mobile WiMAX not just locally, but as a technology that has gained worldwide importance. To overlook mobile WiMAX technology would create an “emergency” situation that could derail the convergence process in Brazil.