Spotlight: The status of LatAm's spectrum tenders

Several regulators in Latin America have announced new details of long-awaited spectrum tenders or have actually launched the processes, such as the IFT-10 auction in Mexico.

Others have made advances with processes that were already underway, such as Chile, or have begun to define the tender terms, as in Brazil.

BNamericas provides an update on these processes and the other major spectrum tenders that are taking place across the region.

CHILE 

Currently underway

Chilean regulator Subtel began the process to tender spectrum bands last December and expects the award of blocks to be completed by year-end.

Five telcos qualified to acquire spectrum in the auction for four frequencies, including 5G bands: Entel, Claro, Movistar, WOM and Borealnet. 

In total, the government is awarding 1.8GHz of spectrum, which is four times more than has been tendered in the entire history of the sector. This spectrum is in the 700MHz, AWS (1,755-1,770MHz and 2,155-2,170MHz), 3.5GHz and 26GHz bands, the latter two of which are used for 5G networks.

Sealed envelopes must be sent and will be opened next month for frequencies in the 700MHz (blocks of 20MHz), AWS (30Mhz) and 3.5GHz (150MHz) bands, while spectrum in the 26GHz band (four blocks of 400MHz) will be allocated without a tender, according to Subtel.

All three operators who expressed an interest in the 26GHz band (Claro, Entel and WOM) will be awarded the 400MHz blocks up for grabs depending on the availability of sufficient bandwidth.

The government estimates that 5G will lead to additional investments of US$5bn over five years

“We have 15 projects in our telecommunications portfolio for the next four years. Nine of them are for reducing the digital divide. However, there is also an important portion that is for the development of infrastructure,” Subtel head Pamela Gidi said at a 5G Americas online event on Wednesday.  

ALSO READ: Project Spotlight: Chile’s 5G auction

MEXICO

Taking place between February and December, 2021

Mexican regulator IFT just set in motion a massive tender to award 41 national and regional blocks of spectrum in the 800MHz, PCS (1.9GHz), 2.5GHz and AWS-3 bands, mostly for 4G. 

The IFT-10 tender, as it is known, is divided into different stages. From February 15-June 11 interested participants can send questions to the IFT and register for the tender. Qualified participants will be able to submit offers starting on September 27.

The process is expected to be concluded and have all spectrum licenses awarded by the end of 2021 or in early 2022, IFT spectrum head Alejandro Navarrete said this week during the 5G Americas event.

The official said Mexico has more than tripled the amount of spectrum for mobile broadband in the last six years.

In 5G, Mexico has reorganized spectrum in order to release frequency in the 3.5Ghz band for operators.

However, there is no specific timeframe to award spectrum in the 600MHz band and more in the 3.5GHz band. IFT has generally said it plans to award 5G frequencies this year. 

The decision is included in the 2021 program for the use and licensing of radio frequencies, published in the official gazette. Use would be mostly for fixed wireless access (FwA).

In an interview with BNamericas in November, IFT commissioner Javier Juárez Mojica claimed the agency is “technology neutral”.

“That is, with the spectrum we assign it is not like 'hey, this has to be used for 3G, 4G or 5G'. In fact, some bands of the radio-electric spectrum that other countries are considering as suitable for 5G, we have already assigned them to the market," Juárez Mojica said.

However, frustrating expectations from part of the mobile industry, Mexico does not intend to grant spectrum licenses in millimeter bands for 5G before 2023. 

According to Navarrete, there are more doubts than certainties about the feasibility and the business models for these bands. In the case of the 28GHz band, Mexico also has issues with the satellite services occupying the spectrum.

Among the challenges for the future implementation of 5G, Navarrete cites the varying municipal regulations for the installation of infrastructure, such as towers and fiber.

Mexico has so far identified 11,190MHz of radio spectrum available for mobile broadband, although this does not mean that this entire spectrum will necessarily be assigned.

The distribution of spectrum in Mexico is currently as follows: AT&T has 185MHz, América Móvil’s Telcel 179MHz, Altán 90MHz, Telefónica’s Movistar 36MHz and other concessionaires 2.5GHz, according to consultancy Telconomia.

National mobile spectrum is expected to become more concentrated as Telefónica still has blocks to return in December 2021 and June 2022.

ALSO READ: Mexico presents plan for tendering 41 mobile spectrum blocks

BRAZIL

Taking place in the first half of 2021

The rapporteur for the 5G tender at Brazilian regulator Anatel, Carlos Baigorri, released the tender terms for his peers' appraisal. His proposal was not made public.

The terms are due to be discussed and voted on by the agency’s board of directors in February.

What is already known is that the country plans to sell about 2GHz of spectrum in the 700MHz (left over from the 4G auction), 2.3GHz, 3.5GHz and 26GHz bands. Anatel claims this spectrum auction will be the biggest ever in Latin America.

In the broader 3.5GHz band, four blocks of 100MHz are being considered for sale, although there are discussions about reducing the blocks to 80MHz, leaving a band for satellite services that operate in the 3,625MHz-3,700MHz range.

Satellite broadcasters want to migrate to other bands and want operators to pay for the costs. 

Operators, however, advocate the use of filters to reduce the risk of interference at first and then migrate the satellite services later. 

The draft proposal of Anatel's tender divides Brazil into 14 regions and suggests a sequential sale of frequencies.

Agostinho Linhares, spectrum manager at Anatel, said on Wednesday that the regulator is setting specific goals for the development of 5G over the years and that the goal is for state capitals to start receiving the technology this year.

He also said Anatel will start discussing new miliimeter bands for mobile broadband in addition to the 26GHz frequency. Millimeter wave bands are extremely high frequencies, above 24GHz, and have been increasingly used in several countries for applications in fixed wireless 5G and WiFi 6.

Ericsson’s head for the Southern Cone, Eduardo Ricotta, said during an event on 5G on Thursday that the cost of spectrum in Brazil is the highest among 40 countries in the world, considering the per capita income of Brazilians.

Rodrigo Abreu, CEO of Oi, called for efficient use of the blocks to cover Brazilian territory on Thursday. He also said the tender coverage obligations need to be reasonable to enable investments to expand and install fiber. 

Abreu also urged the government to stimulate demand through the use of the telecom funds, specially to take connectivity to Brazil's interior.

ALSO READ: 5G tender, Correios privatization 2021 priorities for Brazil, says minister

COLOMBIA

Taking place in 2022

Initially planned for the fourth quarter of 2021, Colombia now believes that it will be able to hold a spectrum auction that would include bands for 5G before the end of Iván Duque's government in August 2022, ICT minister Karen Abudinen said recently.

The last spectrum auction in the country took place in 2019.

The government is mainly focused on the expansion of the 4G network, bidding for digital centers and the regulatory sandbox for communications and mail services, the bases of which are due to be announced soon.

Last year, the country carried out a consultation of the market to assess interest in the new assignments.

The ICT ministry (MinTIC) asked about interest in the 700MHz, 1.9GHz, 2.5GHz and 3.5GHz bands. Operators could also indicate how they preferred the allocation to be done and when.

Comcel (Claro), ETB and Partners Telecom Colombia (WOM) expressed interest in the 700MHz band, suitable to boost 4G transmission in urban areas. Partners and Comcel preferred to have it assigned in the second half of next year, while ETB wanted it to take place in the second half of 2022.

Only ETB expressed interest in the 1.9GHz band, which can be used for voice and broadband applications, especially via 4G. The state telco also preferred allocation in 2H22.

The 2.5GHz band, with high 4G transmission capacity, is being eyed by Comcel, ETB, Partners and Colombia Telecomunicaciones (Telefónica). While ETB wants to start using the band in 2022, the other telcos prefer it to happen in the second half of next year. 

Finally, the 3.5GHz band, which is key for 5G, received most expressions of interest; from Comcel, state-run utility Emcali, ETB, Colombia Telecomunicaciones and Colombia Móvil (Millicom).

Emcali would like to use it in the first half of 2021, while Comcel prefers to wait until the second half of the year.

ETB and Telefónica called for assignment to take place in the second half of 2022, while Millicom did not mention a time-frame.

At the end of 2020, MinTIC, along with spectrum regulator ANE, announced a new spectrum policy for the country to cover the 2020-2024 period.

The government intends to speed up the approval of licenses and implement spectrum-sharing tools and criteria for the exchange of spectrum permits, fostering the so-called secondary spectrum market, among other measures.

PERU

Taking place in the third quarter of 2021

Peru plans to carry out its next spectrum tender in July-September this year, according to the portfolio schedule of investment promotion agency ProInversión.

Around US$291mn could be raised with the frequency tender, ProInversión estimates.

Last December, Peru held the first public hearing with the industry to discuss the bidding terms, which are yet to be finalized.

Considerations about the 6GHz band and awarding spectrum for industry verticals were the main topics during the debate.

Overall, Peru plans to assign 800MHz of spectrum in the 26GHz band, and 300MHz in the 3.5GHz band. The 1.1GHz total to be assigned would make the tender the largest in Peru's history.

The country is also discussing the unlicensed use of the 6GHz mid-band for Wi-Fi, which operators oppose.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Taking place in 2021

President Luis Abinader called on regulator Indotel to take the necessary steps to ensure the availability of the 700MHz and 3.3-3.4GHz bands for tender in 2021. However, the details of this process are not yet yet known.

Abinader announced a decree obliging Indotel to work on a new policy for spectrum management and declared access to 5G and the productive use of information and communication technologies as being of “national interest” .

"Our expectation is that the benefits of 5G, which will represent better coverage, lower latency, higher speed and lower energy consumption, among other qualities, will begin to be perceived by users in the year 2022", Julissa Cruz, head of Indotel, said on Wednesday.