radio spectrum regulation

Anatel submitted to public consultation until 23 October 2026 the draft rules for an auction of 700 MHz of spectrum in the 6 GHz band in national and regional blocks of 200 MHz and 100 MHz. All awards will have a licence term of 20 years. Winning bidders must deploy both fibre backhaul and 4G (or better) networks in selected areas. They must also invest in deploying data centres and commit to annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) obligations.

The Brazilian telecoms and spectrum regulator, Anatel, is consulting until 13 October 2026 on setting more restrictive permanent spectrum caps in low and mid-bands, and imposing a new cap in the 3.5 GHz and 6 GHz bands.

Anatel allocated frequency division duplex (FDD) spectrum in IMT bands under 3 GHz to the mobile satellite service (MSS) on a secondary basis. The decision opens the way for a permanent regulatory framework on direct-to-device (D2D) services in mobile (IMT) bands. In parallel, Anatel extended until April 2029 the regulatory sandbox to test D2D services in licensed mobile spectrum bands.

The Swiss regulator opened a spectrum award procedure to reassign more than half of the spectrum covered by the current Swiss mobile licences, expiring at end of 2028. Up to 590 MHz will be awarded through a two-stage auction procedure, subject to spectrum caps. The auction should take place in 2Q 2027.

The Italian Ministry for Enterprises and Made in Italy published the award procedure to assign spectrum licences in the lower 26 GHz band. The 1.4 GHz spectrum up for auction correspond to the portions of the band currently used for fixed wireless access.

The Dominican Republic completed its 2026 multi-band spectrum auction, awarding 240 MHz to new entrant Viettel and 20 MHz to Claro for a combined US$119.5m. Viettel won spectrum in the 700 MHz, 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands, while Claro acquired an additional 2x10 MHz in the 700 MHz band. The AWS spectrum offered did not receive bids.