Lower house committee chief recognizes importance of antenna bill, but says process will not be rushed

The president of the science and technology committee of Brazil's lower house, Paulo Abi-Ackel, recognized the urgent need to approve a federal antenna bill, but warned that the matter must not be pushed through "in a hasty way." The federal bill was approved by the senate in December last year, but since then has not advanced in the lower house. The bill streamlines and facilitates licensing procedures for the installation of cell phone antennas in Brazilian cities, which is seen as vital by operators to help increase and improve mobile coverage. The issue is particularly worrying for carriers when it comes to 4G, as the 2.5GHz spectrum used to transmit the technology requires a much higher antenna density than 3G. "We want to make progress with the bill, but taking sure steps and with the technical discussion that the subject deserves. The law will not be approved in a hasty way. We are promoting a sanitization of the debate, but want it to be conducted in a technical way," Abi-Ackel said during the opening of Painel Telebrasil, the annual conference of the national telecoms association, taking place in Brasília. In a contradictory and often confusing speech, Abi-Ackel said that "the telecoms sector is expanding, but needs to find a model of satisfaction for clients" and, possibly referring to the lobbying of the lower house committee, said that "we must be careful with opportunists around." Prior to Abi-Ackel's speech, Telebrasil president Antonio Carlos Valente - who is also CEO of Telefónica Brasil - criticized the slow progress of the bill in the lower house. "It is essential that this process gains speed," he said. "We renew our plea to the national congress to vote on the bill." According to Telebrasil, there are around 250 different rules and regulation governing the deployment of antennas countrywide. Among other measures, the bill sets a 60-day deadline for cities to issue licenses for the deployment of antennas, after which, if the application has not been processed, operators can move forward with their installations.