5G debuts in the country on Wednesday, with signal activation in Brasília

Next on the list should be Belo Horizonte, followed by Porto Alegre and São Paulo, but still no dates

THE mobile Internet fifth generation (5G) will be released in Brasilia on Wednesday, the 6th, making the city the first in the country to receive the new communication technology. Next on the list should be Belo Horizonte.

The information was shared this Monday, 4th, by the adviser of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) Moisés Moreira, who chaired the group responsible for “cleaning” the strip in the air through which the internet signals will travel.

“The technical team gave the ok, and Brasilia will be turned on on the 6th. Brasília will be the first capital in Brazil to have 5G effectively activated”, declared Moreira, in a presentation during the TeletimeTec event, held in São Paulo.

Moreira convened for today, at 5 pm, an extraordinary meeting of the Monitoring Group for the Implementation of Solutions for Interference Problems in the 3,625 to 3,700 MHz band (Gaispi). At the time, the release of the 5G signal will be formalized, something that Moreira takes for granted. The expectation is that operators will immediately activate their networks to offer 5G to consumers.

Gaispi is working to guarantee the cleaning of the band against interference, which consists in the migration of the TV signal by satellite dishes from the current frequency, in the C band, to a new frequency, in the KU band. In practice, field teams are installing filters on equipment to make this “deviation” in the signal.

The installation of the filters was completed in Brasília last Friday, the 1st, according to Moreira. The city took the lead because there were fewer antennas to be adapted there compared to other capitals, explained the counselor.

Over the weekend, tests were carried out with the partial and controlled activation of 5G, and, even so, interference between the internet and TV signal was recorded – which required new technical adjustments.

Therefore, Brasília is being considered a pilot project for the activation of 5G. Based on local experience, new technical requirements may arise to be implemented in the next capitals. Moreira said that Belo Horizonte tends to be the next capital where the new generation of internet will be activated, followed by Porto Alegre and São Paulo, but still without a date. “I believe that after Brasília, other cities will come more easily,” he said.

In the end, the activation of 5G in Brasília will happen on time, even after the logistical difficulties faced recently.

The activation of 5G in the capitals was originally scheduled to take place until July 31, but Gaispi asked for an extension for another 60 days – as provided for in the auction notice for the bands – because of the slow arrival of filters imported from China. Moreira said that the flow of equipment acquisition is being normalized and no further delays are expected.

Estadão Content