Colombia is to work towards meeting spectrum goals set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) during the coming year, according to a report by the country’s spectrum agency ANE. The organization will conduct a study during 1Q14 to analyze the technical and economic viability of spectrum bands which can be used for mobile communications in Colombia.

In recent years Colombia’s government has implemented a range of public policies to boost mobile internet, which it sees as a key factor in increasing internet penetration throughout the country, particularly in rural and isolated areas, and reducing the digital divide.

The government conducted the largest spectrum auction in Colombia’s history during 2013, awarding five licenses to provide 4G services in the AWS and 2.5GHz bands.

However, even following this auction, there was a total of just 412.5MHz of spectrum allocated in the Colombian mobile market, representing just 31.7% of the total amount recommended by the ITU by 2015.

The government intends to auction at least an additional 125MHz of spectrum before the end of this year, including 90MHz in the 700MHz band, 5Mhz in the 1.9GHz band and 30MHz in the 2.5GHz band, which would take the country to 41.3% of the recommended spectrum bandwidth by 2015.  A study has also been carried out to determine the spectrum needs of users of the 900MHz band, which is currently employed for fixed-wireless services with the objective of evaluating the possibility of using the band for mobile communications, with the proposal of auctioning two blocks of 11MHz each in the band.

Business News Americas, Thursday, 09 January 2014

Source:  http://www.bnamericas.com