Argentina’s National Communications Agency (Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones, ENACOM) has announced that the country’s long-awaited 3.5GHz 5G spectrum auction will commence on 24 October. A 300MHz tranche of spectrum in the 3.3GHz-3.6GHz range will be auctioned in three 100MHz TDD blocks. Each block will have a base bidding price of USD350 million, meaning the government stands to generate a minimum of USD1.05 billion via the frequency sale.

ENACOM stated: ‘The deployment of 5G constitutes a medium and long-term state policy that requires virtuous collaboration between the public sector and the private sector, between investments for the renewal of the network infrastructure that will be carried out by companies and the government to allow its commercialisation with fair competition and affordable prices for users.’

Claro Argentina, Telefonica Argentina (Movistar) and Telecom Argentina (Personal) all submitted applications to participate in the auction ahead of the 29 September 2023 deadline.