According to Huawei’s technical director, Nicolas Driesen, the company’s 5G tests in Brazil was very successful. Huawei’s 5G tests in Brazil involves all four major Brazilian operators. The Chinese manufacturer is also helping them to modernize their infrastructure before the band auction. However, he believes that the country will face some challenges in catching up with other Latin American countries.
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He further said that “Since 2009, we have been working hard to develop 5G. Our end-to-end technology is cost-competitive because it can reuse some of the previous generations of equipment.” Ericsson and Nokia are also vying to launch 5G services in Brazil and Latin America at large. However, Huawei’s 5G low-cost and long-term relationship makes it more desirable in the region.
However, Driesen said that even with Huawei taking the lead, Brazil is still behind other countries in the region. Brazil’s neighbor, Uruguay, is the first Latin American country to deploy a 5G commercial network in April. “Mexico is also ahead of Brazil for a year or two,” Driesen said. If the auction holds in March 2020, Brazil will still be able to catch up with other Latin American countries. However, some industry observers are concerned that the auction may be postponed as the relevant rules remain to be determined.