Ongoing plans for 5G rollout in South America have reached a new stage in Chile and Peru this week.
First of all Peru’s Private Investment Promotion Agency (ProInversion) has confirmed that the planned auction of 1750MHz-1780MHz, 2150MHz-2180MHz and 2300MHz-2330MHz spectrum will take place in the second quarter of 2020.
These are nationwide concessions that will be valid for a 20-year period; they support the deployment of both 4G and 5G technology. However, a number of 5G trials have already taken place in the country, including trials using the 3.5GHz band, which is not part of this auction. The government believes the auction process will generate significant revenues: close to $300 million is expected.
Meanwhile Chile’s Department of Telecommunications has unveiled a new 5G consultation as it assesses interest in the potential distribution of what are called Limited Telecommunications Services concessions for businesses.
The consultation is targeting the mining, port, agricultural, industrial and transport sectors, and seeks feedback regarding the technical, legal, administrative and economic elements of a potential tender.
Developing business-owned networks is a feature of 5G and 4G planning in a number of countries where the potential of private networks for a range of verticals is being assessed, so it will be interesting to see how the Chilean government plans to takes this consultation forward.
Also under discussion are potential 5G bands, with 1700MHz/2100MHz, 3.5GHz and 28GHz bands all under consideration by the regulator. The consultation will last two weeks, ending on 23 October.
Chile has also seen 5G testing, mainly in mmWave spectrum.
