Colombia eyes raising $499 mln in cell service auction
08/11/2023 19:09
By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Colombia hopes to raise up to
$499 million in an auction to award four blocks to operate 5G
cellular data services in the country on Dec. 20, the Minister
of Information and Communications Technologies said on
Wednesday.
Colombia hopes to improve connectivity as it joins its Latin
American neighbors, including Argentina and Mexico, which
already have 5G services.
"We're going to award up to four blocks of 100 megahertz in
the 3,500 frequency," Minister of Information and Communications
Technologies, Mauricio Lizcano, said in an interview.
"The operation could be worth between 1.5 trillion and 2
trillion pesos ($374.5 million to $499 million)," he said,
adding that the auction will include bids in the extended AWS
band of frequencies, which range from 1,700 megahertz to 2,100
megahertz.
Any public or private telecommunications company with more
than three years of experience will be able to participate, the
minister said.
Auction winners will be able to begin adapting the networks
in 2024, he added.
"Whoever pays the most wins the spectrum, ... it's
impossible for there to be a defect in the procedure," Lizcano
said.
Cellphone users who have 5G technology enjoy faster download
and upload speeds, the minister said, adding that a 5G network
will benefit the business, health and education sectors.
To avoid any one company taking a dominant position,
operators with fewer customers will get the first pick of the
available spectrums, Lizcano said.
Colombia had 80.8 million cellphone subscribers at the end
of 2022, spread among operators including Claro, Movistar, Tigo
and WOM.
($1 = 4,005.06 Colombian pesos)
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta
Writing by Oliver Griffin;editing by Diane Craft)
((Oliver.Griffin@thomsonreuters.com; +57 304-583-8931;))