FEB. 25, 2019

Chilean government announces spectrum tender for 5G development

This initiative seeks to inject more competition into the national market with the respective benefits that this new high-speed network will bring to the users of these services.

Facing the new challenges that the digital revolution proposes to us every day, the world must be prepared and Chile should not be left out of this process, ensuring that users of telecommunications services can access to the latest available technologies. The technological leadership that our country has held now has a new challenge and is to make available a new high capacity mobile network, as will be the future 5G network.

This is why the Vice-Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications of Chile (SUBTEL) in the framework of the Mobile World Congress (MWC19), has decided to start a tender for the future 5G network, providing 60 MHz of spectrum nationwide between the 700 MHz and 3,500 MHz (3.5 GHz) bands.

This process will begin with a public consultation that will be published shortly on SUBTEL’s website so that all the members of the digital ecosystem can contribute by making technical consultations about this new spectral contest.

On the other hand, this tender is part of the pro-competition agenda that has been carried out by SUBTEL and seeks to deepen the benefits and services that the final users receive. Hence, this new tender aims to increase the number of participants nationwide in the future 5G network and specifically in the 3.5 GHz band, since today there are five operators with allocated spectrum, from which only two could provide these services.

"Since we assumed the Government, almost a year ago, we have worked so that the country's telecommunications users can access to the most recent technologies through reasonable prices and accessible to all. This is why we have decided to call this tender for

60 MHz of spectrum. This initiative will enhance the competition, which finally translates into better and greater benefits as well as freedom of choice for all users", said the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications of Chile, Gloria Hutt.

Meanwhile, the Vice-Minister of Telecommunications of Chile, Pamela Gidi, who is in Barcelona participating in the MWC19, took the opportunity to conduct a road show to inform the companies about the details of this tender, which is the first of its kind in Chile, as well as solving their concerns and listening to their future plans to enter the country.

"The mandate of President Piñera is that Chile has to have 5G Network in his government to continue leading the digital development of the region, reason why we are going to meet with several foreign operators, who have already shown interest in participating in this contest and through it enter to the national telecommunications market. This shows us that Chile has always been an attractive destination for foreign investments and that the telecommunications sector will gradually recover its digital leadership in Latin America, retaking its historical levels of investments and innovation capacity in tenders for spectral bands for telecommunications", said the Vice-Minister Gidi.

The spectral politics of the country is fundamental for its digital development. For this reason, last October SUBTEL entered into the Defense of Free Competition Court (TDLC, by its initials in Spanish) a National Spectrum Plan, which seeks to update the current spectral limits dating from 2009.

 

5G pilots for smart industries

The digital development of the country must have a roadmap marked by innovation and the ability to impact all productive sectors, in addition to becoming an important link in the new digital economy.

As a response, the Chilean government, through SUBTEL, has decided to promote pilots for the development and testing of 5G technology in the different industrial sectors of the country, looking forward to their subsequent deployment to all mobile internet users.

By doing this, the government aims for the firms and industries to discover in advance the scope of this technology, which will undoubtedly improve their productivity due to its high speed and lower latency. Likewise, the development, for example, of autonomous vehicles and IoT applications will be allowed, which will imply substantive improvements in the processes of mining, agro-industry, among other sectors.