Nextel Brasil

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Nextel Telecomunicacoes Ltda was awarded the 15-year authorization to provide cellular phone services through the H band in December 2010. Nextel won twelve out of 60 areas that the regulatory agency Anatel established for bidding (municipalities in several Brazilian states, including states of Sao Paulo e Rio de Janeiro). The bidding criterion was the highest payment made to the government and Nextel’s offer was US$ 844.2 million (BRL 1420 million). Besides Nextel, eight other companies took part in the competitive bidding process: 14 Brasil Telecom Celular S/A, TNL PCS S.A., Americel S.A., Claro S.A., CTBC Celular S.A., TIM Celular S.A., Vivo Participacoes S.A. and Vivo S.A. The contract was only signed with Anatel in May 2011. Nextel, a subsidiary of NII Holdings Inc. (Sprint) had been operating in Brazil since 1997, but the company was only authorized to provide radio based services to corporate clients.