Colombia’s national spectrum agency (ANE) sanctioned Avantel, a telecommunications company based in Mexico City, for the illegal use of WOM's spectrum.
The ANE (Agencia Nacional del Espectro, ANE) had originally assigned the frequencies to its sister company, Telecom Partners Colombia (WOM). Avantel has been fined COP10.6 billion (USD2.9 million) for the infraction.
The decision was made based on the complaints filed by Claro and Tigo, who had indicated that it was using 700 Mhz acquired by Wom in the 2019 auction, without authorization from the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (MinTIC).
Avantel clarified that this is not yet a final decision since it still has the right to file a motion for reconsideration and appeal.
In November 2020, Wom announced its arrival in the national market and seeks to conquer one million customers in 2021.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in May 2021 WOM announced plans to stage a ‘merger by absorption' of Avantel, which had been acquired by Novator in July 2020.
