Companies All Set for Honduras’ 4G LTE auction

Ricardo Cardona, the president of Honduran telecoms regulator the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), has announced that at least ten foreign companies will compete in the country’s forthcoming auction for Long Term Evolution (LTE)-suitable spectrum this August.

One of the international companies interested in the tender is Telefonica of Spain; local telcos Amnet Honduras (Tigo) and Claro Honduras are also said to be interested in bidding for the spectrum. Mr. Cardona added that more information will be available to the public in the following days, including the prospective fee for participation in the international bidding process.

Conatel has launched two public consultations on draft resolutions for the allocation of LTE-suitable frequency bands in July 2013. Under the terms set out by the documents, the spectrum available for use was listed as follows: 2×20MHz paired blocks (frequency division duplex, FDD) in 1710MHz-1730MHz and 2110MHz-2130MHz bands; 2×20MHz paired blocks (frequency division duplex, FDD) in 1730MHz-1750MHz and 2130MHz-2150MHz bands; and 2×20MHz paired blocks (frequency division duplex, FDD) in the 1750MHz-1770MHz and 2150MHz-2170MHz bands.

According to reports in the local media, Conatel will reserve one of the frequency blocks for state-owned telco Hondutel for use after its anticipated privatization.