The technology 4G LTE has been operating since 2013 in the Brazilian territory, and there are several frequency bands used by operators such as Claro, Oi, TIM and Vivo. find it out what are the bands 4G from Brazil adopted by telecommunications companies in a given city and understand what are the fourth generation frequencies in Brazil.
4G from Claro. Photo: Lucas Braga / Tecnoblog
Knowing 4G frequencies is important when choosing an imported smartphone (like those from Xiaomi), since not all countries adopt the same bands in Brazil. A device without Brazilian frequencies may be incompatible with Claro, Oi, TIM and Vivo networks.
What are the 4G bands in Brazil?
Currently, Brazilian operators have licenses for the following frequencies for 4G or other technologies:
| Band | Nominal frequency | Frequency range | Operators using |
| 1 | 2,100 MHz | Downlink: 1920 – 1980 MHz Uplink: 1920 – 1980 MHz |
sure Hi TIM Live |
| 3 | 1,800 MHz | Downlink: 1805 – 1880 MHz Uplink: 1710 – 1785 MHz |
sure Hi TIM Live |
| 5 | 850 MHz | Downlink: 869 – 894 Uplink: 824 – 849 |
sure TIM Live |
| 7 | 2600 MHz | Downlink: 2620 – 2690 MHz Uplink: 2500 – 2570 MHz |
sure Hi TIM Live |
| 28 | 700 MHz | Downlink: 758 – 803 MHz Uplink: 703 – 748 MHz |
sure Hi TIM Live |
It is important to remember that not all tracks are available throughout Brazil or by all operators; adoption and licensing vary by location. Companies usually use as many frequencies as possible in large cities and places where there is a greater concentration of people, since this increases the capacity of simultaneous users.
On roads, inland towns with few inhabitants and places with less concentration of people, operators usually opt for 4G in the band 28 (700 MHz). The lower frequencies deliver a larger coverage area, which reduces the number of antennas needed to cover a region; at the same time, the capacity of simultaneous users is less and speeds are usually lower.
Find out the frequencies by city
There are two ways of knowing which frequencies are used in a given location:
Discovering 4G frequencies on Android
For Android smartphone users, there are apps that allow you to identify the 4G frequency at which the device is connected:
Discovering frequencies licensed by Anatel
Anatel, which regulates radio frequencies in Brazil, has a system called Spectrum-E. Through it, it is possible to identify the frequencies licensed in a given base station.
Filtering cities on Spectrum-E:
- Open the Spectrum-E (Anatel) website;
- Click on the “Filter“;
- In column “UF“, Select the desired state;
- Select the location in the “County“:
After the process, the table returns with all authorizations to the municipality by technology:
- Entries marked with technology LTE are licenses for 4G.
- Entries marked with technology WCDMA licenses for 3G.
- Entries marked with technology GSM are licenses for 2G.
The column on the side shows which track is used. To interpret, use the frequency range information in the table above.
(Image: Reproduction / Anatel)
For more accurate information, it is possible to filter by the antenna address. Know where the antennas of cell phone operators are.
It is worth noting that licensing by Anatel does not guarantee that frequency or technology is already active in the region. Operators need to obtain authorization in advance to operate at locations, and they often take time to activate a specific range or even a new technology.