SÃO PAULO (WiMAX Day). Embratel Participações SA announced yesterday that at the end of March, it will have completed the first stage of construction on its USD 600 million WiMAX network in Brazil. The network will cover twelve cities, including Belém, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Goiânia, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Luis and São Paulo.

The Embratel network is expected to bring competitive broadband services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). According to a company press release, in cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, which are dense urban areas with a large concentration of buildings, Embratel will provide coverage to 90% of SMEs.

“Small and medium-sized Brazilian companies now have the option to choose their telecommunications supplier for local and broadband services,” said José Formoso, president of Embratel.

Embratel is using 21 MHz of 3.5 GHz WiMAX spectrum which it was awarded by Anatel at auction in 2002. This provides the company with coverage of the Brazilian territory, and additional 10.5 GHz spectrum that is used for local numbering in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The first stage of the network launch is part of one of Latin America’s most ambitious WiMAX networks. Embratel announced its commitment to WiMAX last year, and the company says it has already invested USD 150 million in the roll-out.

A subsidiary of Mexico’s Telmex, Embratel operates one of the largest telecommunications networks in Brazil. With experience in WiMAX throughout Latin America, Telmex has been instrumental in the launch of WiMAX in Brazil. According to Formoso, Embratel’s WiMAX experience “in Brazil is based on all the knowledge of Telmex.”