Colombia. On December 2 and following the established schedule, the process was closed in which interested operators had to register and submit some requirements, such as bank guarantees, insurance, among others, to participate in the auction of spectrum in the bands of 700, 1,900 and 2,500 MHz. At this time, MinTIC is advancing in the process of evaluating the proposals.
"We had four interested parties, the three national operators and Partners, one new one. This is very important for Colombia because it reaffirms that the country is a place of interest for investment and, second, because with the structure of the auction that we present, the more bidders are presented, the more spectrum we are going to deliver and, therefore, the more citizens we will be able to connect," said the minister.
Constaín explained that the radio spectrum is invisible highways, which belong to all Colombians, through which communications (voice and data) travel, and on December 20 an auction will be held to allocate three of those highways.
"The low bands serve to connect rural areas, where there is no access at the moment. That is why the 700 MHz band is so important, because thanks to it we will be able to cover deep Colombia. The high bands (1,900 and 2,500 MHz) are useful for cities, as they help to have better services in places with a high density of people, "said the minister.
He added that this auction, in addition to connecting, also encourages competition, which will translate into better services for Colombians. "Each of these bands, of these highways, has several lanes. For example, in the 700 MHz we have five 20 MHz lanes and one 10 MHz lanes, these will be auctioned separately and may have different awardees."
Minister Constaín stressed that, with this process, Colombia will start the year with the great news of being able to bring connectivity to the entire territory, which will translate into greater opportunities in telemedicine, employment, education, communication, etc.
