Chile 700MHz legal drama drags on

Chile's antitrust body TDLC has thrown out an injunction filed by consumer rights group Conadecus that has been holding up the handover of spectrum in the 700MHz band won by operators Movistar, Claro and Entel in February 2014.

The ruling states that the Conadecus lawsuit failed to demonstrate how the consumer would be the main beneficiary of its attempts to stop the band being awarded.

Conadecus took legal action against the companies in May 2014 claiming that the three largest mobile operators should not have been allowed to participate in the auction given that they all surpassed the 60MHz spectrum limit imposed by the Supreme Court in 2009 during award of the AWS band, which allowed operators Nextel and VTR to enter the mobile market.

The organization argued that granting spectrum in the 700MHz band, which adds to the 20MHz each they each hold in the 2.6GHz band, is accentuating their market dominance.

Conadecus also argued that the companies have not facilitated the access of MVNOs in the market.

Movistar and Entel are both currently providing services for MVNOs.

Conadecus has previously said that it is prepared to take its appeal to the Supreme Court if necessary.

4G Americas has said that holding up the award of the spectrum is blocking US$700-800mn in investments and that this could lead to greater pressure on existing networks.

Entel and Movistar have already signed agreements with Ericsson and Huawei for the deployment of the infrastructure. In the best case scenario the networks will not be operating on 700MHz before 2017.