Colombia’s Ministry of Info Applied sciences and Communications (Ministerio de Tecnologias de la Informacion y las Comunicaciones, MinTIC) has introduced the conclusion of its 5G spectrum public sale after 9 rounds of bidding. The public sale, held on December 20 and lasting 5 hours, raised roughly USD 1.37 billion for the 5G band.

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Spectrum Allocation

Within the first band of the public sale, every operator was allotted an 80 MHz block within the 3,500 MHz (3.5 GHz) band upon successful the bid. The successful spectrum for the operators is as follows:

• Union Temporal Colombia Movil-Telefonica acquired the primary block for a price of USD 318.306 million.
• WOM was awarded the second block for a price of USD 318.340 million.
• The third block was awarded to the Brazilian firm Telecall, a brand new operator, for a price of USD 318.333 million.
• Claro Colombia was awarded the final block for a price of USD 411.384 million.

Within the public sale for the remaining bands, Claro Colombia bid USD 157.057 million for block 2 of the two,500 MHz band appropriate for 4G know-how, with no different bidders for this spectrum.

“Of the 4 blocks auctioned, there was a 29.2 % enhance within the reservation worth, another instance of the boldness that this course of had. Among the many excessive, medium and low bands, 82.5 % of the whole spectrum that was accessible was allotted, highlighting that the spectrum to launch 5G was acquired in its entirety. On February 1, 2024, the 4 operators will start the deployment of the know-how, after they perform technical checks in January,” emphasised the Minister of ICT.

Connectivity Obligations

The public sale and related deployment obligations are anticipated to carry an funding of almost USD 28 billion to Colombia over 10 years, averaging USD 2.8 billion per 12 months. Operators should fulfill connectivity initiatives in rural, distant, and weak areas of the nation by deploying telecommunications infrastructure.

On account of the obligations, 4G protection shall be elevated on 34 main and secondary roads within the nation, totaling 700 km of improved connectivity. Claro should join 313 academic establishments, the Tigo-Movistar Short-term Union 217 establishments, and set up at the least 32 base stations with 4G know-how on main and secondary roads. WOM should carry connectivity to 318 faculties and 24 base stations with 4G know-how on main and secondary roads, whereas Telecall should join 343 faculties and 11 base stations with 4G know-how on secondary roads,” stated the official launch.

“5G all through Colombia is a guess for subsequent 12 months. We’re very excited to take this step. In Chile there’s a deployment of 5G, and the thought is to duplicate right here in Colombia the identical work that has been finished there. We’re going to join 77 new places, which represents greater than 300 faculties and 24 base stations with 4G know-how on main and secondary roads. Now we have a really sturdy dedication to deploy and supply state-of-the-art know-how,” stated WOM.

Additionally Learn: Claro Colombia Advances 5G Deployment Following Spectrum Public sale

“We’re going to goal the buyer and enterprise market with completely different applied sciences, with digital and revolutionary options,” stated Telecall.

“We went for block 4 exactly as a result of it has a higher synergy with the nationwide deployment that Claro has within the nation, since, due to our protection in 1,098 municipalities, it made extra sense to undergo this block. We’re going to carry fiber optics to colleges and our deployment will enable it to be finished sooner and effectively,” stated Claro Colombia.