There have been a number of interesting recent telecoms-related announcements from Colombia, where 5G, remote connectivity and satcoms for humanitarian purposes are all in the news.
The country’s connectivity undersecretary Walid David reportedly confirmed that Colombia’s 5G spectrum auction was planned for this December during a webinar organized by the magazine Semana.
Spectrum availability is apparently being reviewed by the ICT ministry and the national spectrum agency. Last year’s public consultation to get operators’ views on the 700MHz, 1.9GHz, 2.5GHz and 3.5GHz bands is said to have elicited strong interest in 3.5GHz from a number of operators.
At the same time, according to local news reports, Colombia is also evaluating the creation of a shared public-private mobile network in remote areas where there is only room for one mobile infrastructure and the private sector has little incentive to deploy networks.
Remote communications were also the theme of a recent announcement from Ovzon, which describes its aim as ‘to revolutionise mobile broadband via satellite, providing global coverage with the highest bandwidth through the smallest terminals’.
The announcement came through Ovzon’s partner Bansat, a specialist in satellite connectivity, which has received an order from Opcion Legal, an NGO in Colombia affiliated with the UN Refugee Agency.
The Ovzon service will be used to provide mobile satellite connectivity for the UDAPV (Attention Unit for Vulnerable Population) part of the Colombian Civil Registry. The service will be used in the most remote areas of Colombia. The initial contract is for six months with service starting in July.
Large parts of Colombia are lacking broadband connectivity to the internet. The Ovzon service, enabled by what Ovzon describes as its mobile, easy-to-use terminals, will enable UDAPV personnel to be able to support humanitarian efforts by securely offering identification services at remote locations in Colombia.
