The ministry will publish the planned mechanism for the 5G auction process in August
Colombia is expected to auction 5G frequencies in December, according to the country’s Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (MinTIC).
The ministry reported that the 5G auction is expected to begin on December 20.
In August, the ministry will publish the planned mechanism for the auction process, along with technical conditions and entry requirements for operators. Meanwhile, the reserve price of the frequencies as well as the obligations and guarantees required for the process will be announced in September.
MinTIC also expects to publish the final version of the resolution for the spectrum auction in October and estimates that it will begin accepting applications from bidders on November 10.
The Government of Colombia had previously said that it plans to make frequencies in the 700 MHz, 1,900 MHz, 2.5 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands available for bidding.
According to previous press reports, nine telecommunications firms in Colombia had initially expressed their interest in acquiring frequencies for the provision of 5G services in the country. Claro, Tigo, Telefónica, WOM, ETB, OSC Top Solutions Group, Colombia WB Hots, Global Play and EGC Colombia will potentially participate in the 5G spectrum auction. Claro has expressed interest in acquiring frequencies in all available bands with a national coverage area, using 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz spectrum for 5G.
At the end of last year, MinTIC began works to identify the spectrum bands and the amount of spectrum required for the launch of 5G in the South American country.
Claro has expressed interest in acquiring frequencies in all available bands with a national coverage area, using 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz spectrum for 5G.
Latin America and the Caribbean had a total of 12 million 5G connections by end-2022 and the region is expected to have 400 million 5G customers by 2027, according to a previous report by 5G Americas.
The report stated that 4G LTE is expected to remain strong in Latin America and the Caribbean through the end of 2023. In Q4 2022, there were 537 million 4G LTE connections, representing 9.3% annual growth with the addition of 46 million new LTE subscriptions.
