Uruguayan state-run operator Antel has announced the activation of 5G services in the country.

Antel said in a release that its 5G offering is provided via spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band.

The company also noted that in the initial phase, nearly 300,000 customers will have access to 5G in the cities of Montevideo, Colonia, Maldonado and Canelones. In the coming days, the 5G service will be activated in all the capitals of the country’s departments, or state-level geographies, Antel said.

Uruguay’s telecom regulator Ursec had reserved a block of 100 megahertz of spectrum for Antel in a recent spectrum auction. In the 5G auction, which took place in May, rival operators Claro, owned by Mexican telecom group America Movil, and Movistar, owned by Spanish telco Telefonica, also secured 5G frequencies. The operators, who were the sole bidders in the process, each acquired a block of 100 megahertz in the 3.5 GHz band for a total of $56 million.

Ursec stipulated that the operators will have to deploy a total of 70 antennas across the country and at least two base stations in at least 10 geographic “departments”, excluding the capital Montevideo, in the first two years of the contract. In the following 36 months, Claro and Movistar will have to install at least two base stations in each of the 19 departments.

The 5G auction had raised controversy because Ursec decided to exclude local operator Dedicado, who had showed interested in the spectrum. Also, local carriers considered that the base price set by the watchdog had been high. Movistar as well as Claro and Dedicado had filed appeals regarding the price for the 5G frequencies.

In Latin America, Chile, Brazil and the Dominican Republic have already auctioned 5G spectrum.

According to a recent study published by 5G Americas, 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. Latin America and the Caribbean had a total of 12 million 5G connections by end-2022 and is expected to have 400 million 5G customers by 2027, according to the report.

“5G and LTE continue to make significant progress throughout the region. Longer term, 5G has an opportunity to foster productivity and industrial development in the region,” said Jose Otero, VP of Caribbean and Latin America for 5G Americas.