Arrival of 4G doesn't exempt operators from 3G development, says Ericsson

Brazil must not look to the arrival of 4G technologies in the country as a way to solve traditional bottlenecks, Ericsson's systems and multimedia integration VP, Jesper Rhode Andersen, told BNamericas. "4G arrival does not exempt Brazil from working on 3G," the executive declared on the sidelines of the Futurecom telecommunications conference in São Paulo. Telecom regulator Anatel is currently wrapping up regulations concerning 4G frequencies. The watchdog anticipates a public tender for those frequencies by April 2012. ACCELERATED PACE On the other hand, Andersen noted that in the last few years Brazil has been trimming down its traditionally delayed adoption of ICT. While 3G technologies entered the country about five years after developed nations had deployed the technology, the incoming 4G has yet to materialize in several developed European countries. "The country is increasing its pace toward more developed nations, and this is a very good signal because nowadays technologies become obsolete much more quickly than in the past," he said. MARKET SIMILARITIES Brazil could take several lessons from the UK, since the two telecoms markets are very much alike in terms of competition and characteristics, according to Andersen. Similar to Brazil, the UK has a market divided among three or four major telecom operators, each of them capturing nearly 25% share, Andersen said, and "this scenario offers Brazil a very good opportunity to mirror what has been happening over there and adopt or repel particular initiatives." GROWTH Without providing hard figures, the executive said Ericsson expects to register above-market growth in Brazil this year, adding that the company is working closely with operators to prepare the telecom segment for an explosion in broadband demand. He made reference to Ericsson's often cited prediction that there will be 50bn connected devices by 2020, "all of them demanding strong capacity from the installed network."