The Argentinean telecoms ministry Secom has announced that its auction of 3G and 4G spectrum has raised over $2 billion.
The government set a minimum bidding price of $1.97 billion, with the final bids exceeding this by 14%. All four prequalified bidders (Airlink, Claro, Movistar and Telecom Argentina’s Personal) participated in the auction.
It has not yet been disclosed exactly which blocks were won by which operators. Nationwide 4G licences were available in the AWS (1.7GHz/2.1GHz) and 700MHz frequency bands, while 3G licences are split between 3 regions (north, south and Buenos Aires).
All licences are valid for 15 years, and all licensees are obliged to provide coverage in all areas with over 500 inhabitants within 5 years of receiving their licences.
