Six telecommunications groups on Tuesday submitted bids to the Brazilian government for licenses to provide fourth-generation, or 4G, data services, offering high-speed wireless Internet connections, telecom regulator Anatel said in a statement.
Brazil's four main telecom operators all submitted bids: Claro, of Mexico'sAmerica Movil SA (AMX, AMOV, AMX.MX), TIM Participacoes SA, of Italy'sTelecom Italia SA (TI, TIA, TIT.MI), Oi SA (OIBR, OIBR4.BR) and Telefonica Brasil SA (VIV, VIVT4.BR), of Spain'sTelefonica SA (TEF, TEF.MC).
Two other firms also submitted bids: a unit of Sky do Brasil SA, owned by DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV), and Sunrise Telecomunicacoes SA, reportedly owned by Soros Fund Management LLC, of billionaire George Soros.
Anatel is scheduled to open the bids on June 12.
The Brazilian government wants the winners of the bidding to launch 4G services in some of Brazil's major cities in time for the Confederations Cup soccer tournament to be held in mid-2013. Critics have argued that Brazilian telephone companies are still rolling out 3G networks, so the 4G licenses provide an additional and unnecessary burden.