Three 4G Licenses Awarded by Chilean Regulator

Chile’s three mobile networks, Movistar, Entel and Claro have been granted 4G licenses after making payments of US$12 million in total.

The three networks were each awarded 20Mhz of spectrum, with the three blocks awarded based on price tendered. Claro received Block A, then Entel followed by Movistar.

Under the terms of the licenses, the companies have a year to launch LTE based services, and two years to expand coverage to 543 rural communities which currently lack broadband internet access.

Jorge Atton, head of Chilean regulator Subtel, said the new spectrum will allow the operators to offer speeds of up to 5 Mb/s, around ten times faster than what they can currently offer.

According to the latest Wireless Intelligence data, Entel leads the Chilean mobile market with an estimated 10.1 million connections in Q2, followed by Movistar (9.6 million) and Claro (5.7 million).