4G TECHNOLOGY IN BRAZIL AND THE PUBLIC POLICY FOR UNIVERSAL ACCESS AND COMPETITION IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR

Abstract

The new demands for the regulation of competitive public services, which have changed several parameters of traditional administrative law in a framework of redefining the role of the state, require the analysis of instruments used in public policies for development. In this context, the telecommunications sector seeks to fulfill two main objectives: universal access and competition. Subsequently, public tenders of licenses to operate 4G technology in Brazil have used a number of expedients, such as the requirement to waive existing licenses or the cross-subsidization incorporated in the joint tendering of frequency bands for rural areas. Through an analysis using a descriptive, inductive and interdisciplinary method, in which we compare the current situation in this sector with earlier national and international experience, we conclude that universal access can be achieved by means of the employed instruments, however, under different circumstances with respect to competition.