OCT. 20, 2020

The Government will connect 366 areas in Chile through a 5G public tender

After two years of work by the Connectivity Round Table of Compromiso País, the MTT will develop this initiative to bring high quality digital connectivity to rural and/or very isolated areas.

The Connectivity Round Table organized by Compromiso País (Country Commitment) is an initiative that has been hard at work for two years and involves the participation of the First Lady, Cecilia Morel, the Chair of Fundación País Digital, Pelayo Covarrubias, private sector representative, Carolina del Río, and academic from Universidad de Chile, José Miguel Piquer. Accordingly, the Transportation and Telecommunications Ministry (MTT), through the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, announced that the public tender to implement a 5G network in Chile will include the obligation to connect 366 areas throughout Chile with 4G technology in the 700 MHz band.

This measure aims to bring high quality digital connectivity to rural and/or very isolated areas. The world has now embarked on the Industrial Revolution 4.0, and it has become essential to secure digital equality throughout the country. This became even more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result many daily tasks are now being performed remotely to keep people and those around them safe. This measure will benefit more than 100,000 residents and over 300,000 people who travel through these places.

The Government’s public tender will introduce a new technology to Chile with all the associated benefits and will generate greater digital equality throughout the country. It will provide users and companies in rural and/or very isolated areas with high-speed, high-quality connectivity, which will directly benefit these communities,” said Transportation and Telecommunications Minister, Gloria Hutt.

The Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Pamela Gidi, said that “our joint endeavor with the Connectivity Round Table of Compromiso País is reflected in these considerations, which will enable residents in rural and/or very isolated areas to access a high-speed, high-quality network.”

This figure is the number of locations included in the tender for 4G networks, which took place during the first Government of President Piñera.

The list of locations is available at the following link , option “Anexo 12”.

A multi-sector and civic project

Preparing this public policy was a collaborative and multi-sectoral task. The Undersecretary officially contacted 346 municipalities in Chile to collect the latest detailed information regarding the digital connectivity status of all of these areas, especially those that were not included in the 700 MHz, 2,600 MHz, Todo Chile Comunicado (Connecting All Chile) or other tenders published by the Chilean Telecommunications Development Fund (FDT). Key assistance was provided by municipal associations of mayors such as Asociación Chilena de Municipalidades (AChM), Asociación de Municipalidades de Chile (AMUCH) and Asociación de Municipios Rurales (AMUR).

Undersecretary Pamela Gidi also said, “The data collected by the regulator was used to improve public policies that will ensure the provision of connectivity in areas that currently lack it, thus reducing the digital divide in Chile.

A principal objective for the Undersecretary is to reduce the digital divide that currently leaves thousands of people with no connectivity or with poor quality connections. Therefore, projects are being implemented in parallel with the 5G tender that will increase fiber optic cabling to cover every corner of the country, such as the Fibra Óptica Austral (Southern Fiber Optic Cable) and Fibra Óptica Nacional (National Fiber Optic Cable) initiatives. 

Other initiatives currently being promoted are “Wifi ChileGob 2.0”, which will add 1,200 new public Wifi points in Chile, and the Transoceanic Cable that will strengthen Chile’s international connectivity, positioning it as the Digital Hub for Latin America and connecting it to the Asia-Pacific region. These initiatives are embodied in the “Digital Matrix” plan that addresses the connectivity issues faced by Chileans today.