Brazilian newcomer Winity Telecom has issued a public call for small providers (Prestadoras de Pequeno Porte, PPPs) that are interested in accessing its nationwide allocation of 700MHz spectrum. The move is in line with a recent decision by the National Telecommunications Agency (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes, Anatel) directive.

The public call will be extended to companies with Significant Market Power (SMP) in areas where PPPs do not show an interest in a frequency-sharing deal. The Anatel directive is one of a number of conditions applied to the industrial network exploitation contract (contrato de exploracao industrial de rede, EIR) between Winity Telecom and Telefonica Brasil (Vivo).

Winity Telecom, a holding company backed by alternative asset management firm Patria Investimentos, successfully bid on a national 2×10MHz 700MHz licence in Brazil’s November 2021 5G spectrum auction, paying BRL1.428 billion (USD276.8 million) – the highest bid for a single spectrum lot in the auction. The newcomer plans to build 5,000 cell towers by 2029 and establish itself as Brazil’s first wholesale operator.