Brazil regulator approves 5G spectrum auction rules, no Huawei ban

BRASILIA: Brazil’s telecoms regulator Anatel approved rules on Thursday for a spectrum auction for 5G networks this year without any curbs on China’s Huawei Technologies Co as an equipment supplier.

Right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro last year criticized the Chinese company and was under pressure from the former Trump administration to ban Huawei from the country’s fifth-generation technology market on security concerns.

Brazil’s telecom companies insisted on a free market, complaining that excluding Huawei would cost billions of dollars to replace the equipment of the Chinese company that supplies 50% of the current 3G and 4G networks.