Venezuela opens call for spectrum bidding

Venezuelan telecom regulator Conatel has published a call for tenders to obtain radio spectrum for mobile services, including bands for 4G and 5G services.

The auction had been announced by the regulator's director, Jorge Marquez, in September.

Conatel will offer five spectrum blocks:

• Block AA': 6MHz of spectrum in the 900MHz band (900-903MHz paired with 945-948MHz)
• Block BB': 50MHz in the 3,500MHz band
• Block EE': 30MHz in the 700MHz band (703-718MHz paired with 758-773MHz)
• Block HH': 40MHz in the 2,500MHz band (2,500-2,520MHz paired with 2,620-2,640MHz)
• Block JJ': 10MHz in the 1,860-1,865MHz band paired with 1,940-1,945MHz.

The tender documents are available at a cost of US$1,000 at Conatel's headquarters until January 6.

The watchdog expects delivery of prequalification certificates to take place on January 24. The start of the auction rounds on the Caracas stock exchange is scheduled for January 29.

The notice for the tender can be seen at this link.

Mobile telephony 

According to the latest figures from Conatel, at the end of the second quarter of 2024 operators reported 21.2mn mobile phone lines, up 4.75% over a year earlier.

Mobile service penetration stood at 59.2%.

Conatel reported 17.5mn 4G mobile lines, corresponding to 82.5% of the market. As of June, there were 3.46mn 3G lines and the rest 2G.

Telefónica leads with 42.3% of the market, followed by Digitel with 35.3% and the state-owned Movilnet with 22.3%.

In September, Movilnet said that 5G is available in sectors of the capital region.

Digitel, meanwhile, had announced the deployment of 5G to provide wireless broadband service taking advantage of the 4G infrastructure.

For its part, Telefónica’s Movistar has been taking steps in the last 20 months to strengthen its 4G network and enable VoLTE and 5G services.