Colombia’s Ministry of Data 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 worth of USD 318.306 million.
- WOM was awarded the second block for a worth of USD 318.340 million.
- The third block was awarded to the Brazilian firm Telecall, a brand new operator, for a worth of USD 318.333 million.
- Claro Colombia was awarded the final block for a worth 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 p.c enhance within the reservation worth, yet another instance of the boldness that this course of had. Among the many excessive, medium and low bands, 82.5 p.c of the entire 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 exams in January,” emphasised the Minister of ICT.
Connectivity Obligations
The public sale and related deployment obligations are anticipated to carry an funding of practically USD 28 billion to Colombia over 10 years, averaging USD 2.8 billion per yr. 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 will likely be elevated on 34 main and secondary roads within the nation, totaling 700 km of improved connectivity. Claro should join 313 instructional establishments, the Tigo-Movistar Short-term Union 217 establishments, and set up not less than 32 base stations with 4G know-how on main and secondary roads. WOM must carry connectivity to 318 colleges and 24 base stations with 4G know-how on main and secondary roads, whereas Telecall must join 343 colleges and 11 base stations with 4G know-how on secondary roads,” mentioned the official launch.
“5G all through Colombia is a guess for subsequent yr. We’re very excited to take this step. In Chile there’s a deployment of 5G, and the thought is to copy right here in Colombia the identical work that has been executed there. We’re going to join 77 new areas, which represents greater than 300 colleges and 24 base stations with 4G know-how on main and secondary roads. We’ve got a really robust dedication to deploy and supply state-of-the-art know-how,” mentioned WOM.
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“We’re going to goal the patron and enterprise market with totally different applied sciences, with digital and modern options,” mentioned Telecall.
“We went for block 4 exactly as a result of it has a better 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 permit it to be executed sooner and effectively,” mentioned Claro Colombia.
