Enacom confirmed it will make available a total of 300 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 GHz bands for 5G

Argentine telecommunications regulator Enacom’s board approved the terms of a long-delayed spectrum auction for the provision of 5G services in the country.  

In a release, Enacom confirmed it will make available a total of 300 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 GHz bands, in three batches of 100 megahertz.

Enacom said that it expects to collect $350 million with each portion of 100 megahertz of spectrum in the process. This base price was one of the main negotiating points with local operators. The price is below what the regulator initially expected to collect for the spectrum.

Local carriers Telecom Argentina, Claro, owned by Mexican telecom group America Movil and Movistar, owned by Spain’s Telefonica, are expected to participate in the 5G spectrum auction.

The government reserved a portion of spectrum in the 3.6-.3.7 GHz band for state-run telecom operator Arsat for the adoption of 5G by the public sector or by signing agreements with cooperatives and SMEs.

“The deployment of 5G in Argentina constitutes a medium and long-term State policy, which will require collaboration between the public sector and the private sector. Companies must make investments to renew the network infrastructure,” Enacom said.

“One of the objectives of this procedure is to avoid the concentration of spectrum and the configuration of a dominant position, to guarantee fair competition between providers and affordable options for users,” the regulator added.

Local carriers will have time until September 29 to submit their offers. The spectrum auction is expected to take place during the first days of November.

5G subscribers in Argentina are expected to reach 34.7 million by 2030, up compared to 5.7 million in 2025, according to a report by telecom association GSMA.

The GSMA report showed that 5G penetration in Argentina is expected to reach 9% by 2025 while it would expand to 48% by 2030.

GSMA also noted that 5G networks will cover 84% of Argentina’s population by 2030, up from 38% in 2025.

“Telecom has used dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) to introduce 5G services in February 2021. It ended 2022 with DSS deployed across 180 active sites. The operator has also started upgrading other parts of its network to meet 5G demand. For example, it has begun deploying an autonomous 5G core in partnership with Huawei – a project it expects to complete in 2024,” GSMA said.

5G is forecast to reach 57% of the total mobile connections in Latin America in 2030, up from a current penetration of around 2%, according to the GSMA report.

The GSMA report stated that the region will see a 5G penetration of 11% by 2025. By that point, 5G will have a double-digit share of total connections in five countries in the region: Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina.