Colombia: Telephone operators request new delay to 700MHz broadcast bid

Colombia’s three major telephone operators, Claro, Tigo Une, and Movistar, have asked the Colombian government to wait until the takeover of the new administration, which takes office on August 7, to advance with the allocation of the 700 MHz broadcasting spectrum. Several attempts have been made to assign this resource since 2015, all unsuccessful.

The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce submitted some observations and recommendations on the proposed contest, suggesting that the formulas for establishing coverage be revised, considering that excessive coverage requirement “may discourage some operators from valuing the spectrum and thereby reduce the intensity of competition during the auction “. The SIC called for removing “unnecessary” obstacles that may discourage participation.

In this context, the Mobile Industry Association of Colombia said that less than 27 days before the start of the government of President Ivan Duque, “it is not appropriate to define, hastily and without clarity, the conditions for the bidding, leaving it a fait-accompli for the incoming administration, which would take on the consequences.”

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