{"id":11997,"date":"2017-06-04T15:16:40","date_gmt":"2017-06-04T14:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/latin-america-and-the-caribbean\/?p=11997"},"modified":"2025-10-21T10:09:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T09:09:22","slug":"spectrum-in-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/latin-america-and-the-caribbean\/spectrum-in-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Spectrum in Latin America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spectrum is vital for the mobile ecosystem<\/h3>\n

Radioelectric\u00a0spectrum is the means whereby electromagnetic waves frequencies used for mobile telephone services are transmitted and, as such, is vital for the development of the mobile ecosystem. The larger the assigned spectrum, the more bandwidth is available to each user. This scarse but renewable resource is regulated and managed by the Government in each country.<\/p>\n

\"Spectrum<\/p>\n

Over the last six years, mobile operators in Latin America have invested more than USD $11.2 billion in the acquisition of new spectrum. To date, the average allocated spectrum per country in the region is 319 MHz, 43 per cent more than in 2012.This increase results from the licensing of the so-called \u201c4G spectrum bands\u201d (AWS 1700-2100 MHz, 2.6 GHz and 700 MHz) across the region.<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, mobile users have consistently increased their demand for data. According to Ericsson<\/a>, traffic has quadrupled since 2010 and consumption per user is expected to grow from 1.2 GB to 6 GB per month in 2021, as a result of the almost 400 million connected citizens in the region (more than 50 per cent of the Latin American population, according to GSMA Intelligence<\/a>) who are consuming more data per user. In Latin America, internet access is mostly mobile (and prepaid), with 4 mobile and 1 fixed broadband connection for every 5 internet connections.GSMA estimates that an additional 600 to 800 additional MHz will be required to meet this growing data demand, depending on each country\u2019s characteristics (\u201cData Demand Explained\u201d GSMA, 2015″<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Spectrum: efficient management and best practices<\/h3>\n

\"espectro2-EN-sensibilizacion2\"
\nThe potential of creating a high impact on society as a whole makes spectrum extremely valuable. Some practices tend to maximize it while others tend to delay the positive effects it may have on the community. Each additional obligation in spectrum licensing has tangible consequences: a 50 per cent increase variation in spectrum price can result in a 62 per cent reduction in project value.Additionally, high spectrum prices may reduce investment capacity or delay the roll out and adoption of mobile internet, while macroeconomic conditions and regulatory predictability can heavily influence risk assessments on investment.Moreover, short-term licenses (5 or 10 years) do not allow enough time for investment recovery return within the stipulated time, and affect the participation of potential bidders in the licensing processes as well as their investment levels. Each additional obligation in licensing terms and conditions results in higher service costs, which typically lead to price increases to users.<\/p>\n

Regulators who manage spectrum efficiently take specific local conditions into consideration and communicate their intentions with operators with sufficient advance notice, thus providing the necessary predictability.They also typically establish less obligations, making the process more affordable and achievable for operators.Additionally, these regulators tend to encourage spectrum management flexibility by implementing a technology-neutral approach and reducing delays as much as possible. For more information, see \u201cKey considerations in mobile spectrum licensing\u201d, OVUM February 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

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