Tim tries the big shot in Brazil. The Italian group, already present in the largest country in South America (it is 27 times the size of Italy, with over 200 million inhabitants), is the first operator admitted to the auction just launched for the 5G network. Bidding closes on October 27 and on 4 November it will be revealed who won the various frequency bands offered "as prizes" by Anatel, the Brazilian telecommunications agency. The overall operation is worth almost 10 billion dollars and winning the auction would mean for Tim putting even more feet in a market that is not only huge, where it is already the second telephone operator with 55 million customers, but also with great growth potential .
That's why the Board gave the convinced green light to the mission, which is defined on two points: radio frequency band (in four bands between 700 MHz and 26 GHz) and value offered. Tim is interested in the hottest band: the 3,5 GHz one, of the so-called "pure" 5G, divided into 4 80 MHz lots, which require an investment of 5,35 billion reais each, i.e. more or less 1 billion dollars. These funds, unlike in Italian auctions, will not end up in public coffers, but the State requests that they be invested directly in the construction of the infrastructure itself, which is therefore totally the responsibility of the operators also from the point of view of financing.
Brasilia puts only one stake: by July 31, 2022 5G must be available at least in the capitals of the various states of the country. Tim's offer will therefore be around one billion dollars, even if it remains secret for now.
