Colombia's Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (Ministerio de Tecnologias de la Informacion y las Comunicaciones, MinTIC) has announced the conclusion of its 5G spectrum auction after nine rounds of bidding. The auction, held on December 20 and lasting five hours, raised approximately USD 1.37 billion for the 5G band.

Spectrum Allocation

In the first band of the auction, each operator was allocated an 80 MHz block in the 3,500 MHz (3.5 GHz) band upon winning the bid. The winning spectrum for the operators is as follows:

Union Temporal Colombia Movil-Telefonica acquired the first block for a value of USD 318.306 million.

WOM was awarded the second block for a value of USD 318.340 million.

The third block was awarded to the Brazilian company Telecall, a new operator, for a value of USD 318.333 million.

Claro Colombia was awarded the last block for a value of USD 411.384 million.

In the auction for the remaining bands, Claro Colombia bid USD 157.057 million for block 2 of the 2,500 MHz band suitable for 4G technology, with no other bidders for this spectrum.

"Of the four blocks auctioned, there was a 29.2 percent increase in the reservation price, one more example of the confidence that this process had. Among the high, medium and low bands, 82.5 percent of the total spectrum that was available was allocated, highlighting that the spectrum to launch 5G was acquired in its entirety. On February 1, 2024, the four operators will begin the deployment of the technology, after they carry out technical tests in January," emphasised the Minister of ICT.

Connectivity Obligations

The auction and associated deployment obligations are expected to bring an investment of nearly USD 28 billion to Colombia over 10 years, averaging USD 2.8 billion per year. Operators must fulfill connectivity projects in rural, remote, and vulnerable areas of the country by deploying telecommunications infrastructure.

As a result of the obligations, 4G coverage will be increased on 34 primary and secondary roads in the country, totaling 700 km of improved connectivity. Claro must connect 313 educational institutions, the Tigo-Movistar Temporary217 institutions, and install at least 32 base stations with 4G technology on primary and secondary roads. WOM will have to bring connectivity to 318 schools and 24 base stations with 4G technology on primary and secondary roads, while Telecall will have to connect 343 schools and 11 base stations with 4G technology on secondary roads," said the official release.

"5G throughout Colombia is a bet for next year. We are very excited to take this step. In Chile there is a deployment of 5G, and the idea is to replicate here in Colombia the same work that has been done there. We are going to connect 77 new locations, which represents more than 300 schools and 24 base stations with 4G technology on primary and secondary roads. We have a very strong commitment to deploy and provide state-of-the-art technology," said WOM.

"We are going to target the consumer and business market with different technologies, with digital and innovative solutions," said Telecall.

"We went for block four precisely because it has a greater synergy with the national deployment that Claro has in the country, since, because of our coverage in 1,098 municipalities, it made more sense to go through this block. We are going to bring fiber optics to schools and our deployment will allow it to be done sooner and efficiently," said Claro Colombia.