5G Tender raises a total of US$53 million for the State

This afternoon the Telecommunications Undersecretary (SUBTEL) reported that the public tender processes for developing 5G networks had raised an unprecedented total of US$453 million for the State.  This amount is far in excess of the US$74 million raised through all the tenders for spectrum bands that have ever taken place in Chile.

In addition to being the first country in the region to tender the 5G spectrum and the South American country that has tendered the largest number of spectrum bands (1,800 MHz), Chile has set a new record in funds raised in the sector.

“Today we are completing a successful tender process for 5G networks, which will not only transform the lives of the citizens of our country but will also deliver important resources for the fiscal coffers, which are always important, especially in times of pandemic. Our mission as a ministry is to connect the country and the new 5G network, together with other initiatives, will be transformed into high-speed highways that will improve the quality of life of our users,” said Transport and Telecommunications Minister Gloria Hutt.

“Today we are completing one of the objectives that we set ourselves right at the start of this administration, which is to tender spectrum for the development of 5G networks, which will directly benefit the people of Chile, academia and different Chilean industries,” explained Telecommunications Undersecretary Pamela Gidi. After three years, the tender has surpassed all expectations, generating a considerable amount of revenue, which demonstrates the attractiveness of Chile’s telecommunications sector.”

3.5 GHz band tiebreaker

Chile’s Telecommunications Undersecretary announced that the mobile operators Movistar, Entel and Wom have won the 3.5 GHz band tiebreaker tender after submitting the highest financial bids of 117 billion pesos (approximately US$163 million), 100 billion pesos (some US$139 million) and 32 billion pesos (close to US$45 million) respectively.

Movistar, Entel and Wom have been awarded 50 MHz each, totaling the 150 MHz available through the tender.

It should be emphasized that in previous tenders to assign this band, the spectrum was allocated to various operators with no revenues for the State and no coverage or quality requirements, so this process is the first to ensure these elements.

5G Tender

Among the social measures that the companies being awarded the 5G contracts will be implementing, 366 places will benefit for the first time from high-speed mobile Internet and 199 hospitals will be connected to the new network.  Likewise, outside urban areas, various airports, centers of scientific interest and seaports will also be favored.

However, in addition to the payment offered by the companies, within the short-term the process will entail a multi-million-dollar investment for the country through the installation of suitable infrastructure to operate 5G networks.