Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes, Anatel) has offered Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) the opportunity to extend its 4G network rather than pay a fine of BRL45.2 million (USD8.5 million). The watchdog explains: ‘The obligation-to-do sanction was evaluated by the Agency as the most appropriate measure for the specific case, in a discretionary judgement considering the factual and socioeconomic context and the relevance to the public interest.’
As per the statement, Anatel wants 70% of the 4G expansion work to take place in the underserved North-east region of the country. Vivo’s compliance with the matter cannot result from RAN sharing, network rental agreements or industrial exploitation contracts. Further, the sum of the costs related to the installation/maintenance of the must be greater than, or equal to, the amount of the fine.
The precise indiscretion that prompted Vivo to be penalised has not been disclosed. It is unclear if Anatel’s action is related to a recent decision by the Federal Court of Goias to fine Vivo for poor quality of service (QoS) in that state between 2015 and 2019. (Note: as Goias is located in the Center-West Region this may not be the case.)
