Claro Chile Receives Provisional Approval to Offer 5G Services on 3.5 Ghz Band

Claro Chile, a telecommunications company, has been granted provisional authorization by the Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones, Subtel (Department of Telecommunications) to use a part of the spectrum it already holds in the 3.5 GHz band to offer commercial 5G services, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications.

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Decision to Drive Competition

The decision was made in response to the recommendation of both the Free Competition Tribunal and the Supreme Court, which had stated that Subtel should ensure the existence of at least four operators in the market to ensure competitiveness, which will promote better prices and Network for mobile phone users.

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Claro Chile Required to Present an Invest Plan

However, before the company can start selling 5G services in this band, it must submit a technical plan similar to the one presented in the public tender of 2020 and an additional investment plan for the value equivalent to that awarded in the 2021 auction to deploy high-speed 5G mobile networks across different locations in the country that currently have connectivity problems or poor-quality mobile internet.

Provisional Approval for 5G

“As a regulatory body, we are mandated to make decisions where the national interest is paramount, such as ensuring the optimal use of the spectrum, which is a national good for public use. And this authorization, which is provisional, is taken with the objective of optimizing the use of the spectrum so that it can be operated for the benefit of citizens. When there is more competition, the plans are more attractive, prices go down, and people have more options to decide,” said Undersecretary Claudio Araya.