Chile’s telecom regulator Subtel has announced plans to allocate spectrum in the LTE-suitable 700 MHz band to mobile operators.
It is looking to offer a total of 70 MHz in the 713 MHz to 748 MHz band, and 768 MHz to 803 MHz band.
Bidding documents…
Chile’s telecom regulator Subtel has announced plans to allocate spectrum in the LTE-suitable 700 MHz band to mobile operators.
It is looking to offer a total of 70 MHz in the 713 MHz to 748 MHz band, and 768 MHz to 803 MHz band.
Bidding documents will be available from 16 October and Subtel will open envelopes on 3 January 2014.
Seven blocks of 5 MHz in each band are up for grabs according to local financial newspaper Diario Financiero. Winners will be required to connect up 1,250 villages and 500 schools, and allow MVNOs to use the network.
Interested parties will be required to deposit US$500,000 with the Banco del Estado de Chile.
Chile’s last spectrum sale occurred in July 2012. The three main operators – Entel, Claro and Movistar – all won a block of 2.6 GHz spectrum each. Subtel raised more than US$12m in the sale and the licences came with coverage and build-out commitments.
As opposed to other countries in Latin America, Chile’s regulator does not only take the size of an operator’s financial bid into account. Instead it operates a ‘beauty contest’ approach where it will also look at operators’ coverage commitments, quality of service, infrastructure sharing and their openness to MVNOs.
