RIO DE JANEIRO (WiMAX Day). The National Agency of Telecommunications (Anatel) in Brazil announced last week that it will repeal the auction of 3.5 GHz WiMAX spectrum held in 2006. The auction was put on hold two years ago because of what the regulator said were “miscalculations” in the exchange rate for license fees. The auction had 101 participants at the time, and following a recent consultation, 80 have voted in favour of the annulment, whilst others had lobbied against the regulator to get the frequencies auctioned.

According to a publication in the government’s Diário Oficial da União (Official Gazette), Anatel also acknowledged that the climate for spectrum in Brazil has changed in the last two years as WiMAX is no longer just a “fixed” wireless technology, but also a “mobile” technology, comparable to 3G services. The classification of WiMAX as IMT-2000 last year by the ITU heavily influenced the decision of Anatel, and a report in O Globo noted that “the rules of the game for WiMAX had changed in the market.”

Anatel says this is good for WiMAX. Ronaldo Sardenberg, president of Anatel, commented that the auction annulment is “an important step towards dealing with the issue of WiMAX in Brazil on new grounds and equal footing.” Thus many speculate that the government will re-open the tender for WiMAX licenses, but the pricing will be adjusted to take account of the IMT status of WiMAX, which will drive prices much higher. However it is unlikely that operators will bid billions of dollars on WiMAX spectrum as they did for 3G spectrum last year in Brazil.