Algar Telecom is a Brazilian telecommunications company, currently operating in multiple states including Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, and the Federal District. The company was founded as Companhia Telefônica da Borda do Campo (CTBC) on February 15, 1954, by Alexandrino Garcia in Uberlândia, State of Minas Gerais. Garcia acquired Companhia Telefônica Teixeirinha to start his venture in the telephony industry. The company initially focused on the rural regions of Central Brazil, later expanding to other regions and major Brazilian capitals. The company transitioned from CTBC to Algar Telecom in 2013, a strategic branding decision by the parent company, Grupo Algar. In 2007, Algar Telecom became a publicly traded company, though it is not listed on stock exchanges. The company's ownership saw a significant change in December 2017 when Grupo Algar announced the sale of a 25% stake in Algar Telecom to Archy, a subsidiary of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Limited. This sale is currently pending regulatory approval by Brazil's federal telecommunications regulatory agency Anatel and the Brazilian government's competition regulator CADE.
Alias
Algar Telecom S.A.
Country
Brazil
Type
Network Operator
Algar Telecom logo

Algar 4G Network

The company in partnership with Nokia constructed and launched B28 (700 MHz) 4G LTE services in November 2016. In June 2017 Algar announced that it had refarmed 5 MHz of its 10 MHz block in the 1800 MHz band previously used for 2G to provide B3 LTE services.

In December 2017 Algar announced the activation of LTE-A 2C services, combining bands B28 with B3 to provide higher peak DL data rates.

4G Frequency Bands
Network Frequency Band Max. Channel Bandwidth Status
B3 (1800 MHz)
5
Active
B28 (700 MHz)
10
Active
Date Event Subtype
Launch of 4G Network
Launch

Algar 5G Network

After obtaining a special permission from sector regulator Anatel to use the 3.5 GHz band for testing, Algar conducted 5G tests in partnership with Huawei and with support from the University of Uberlândia. The 5G tests reached data rates of 1 Gbps DL and 114 Mbps UL.

Algar launched NSA 5G in December 2021 using the n40 (2300 MHz) band.

Network Frequency Band Status
n40 (2300 MHz)
Active
Date Event Subtype
Launch of 5G Network
Launch