Colombia’s ICT Ministry MinTIC has confirmed that the country's 5G spectrum auction raised more than 1.5 billion pesos (US$380 million).
The total falls short of the $500 million initially expected.
Claro, Partners Telecom Colombia (WOM), and Union Temporal Colombia Móvil-Telefónica (a network-sharing JV between Tigo and Movistar) all secured 5G licenses in the auction which lasted nine rounds.
Each telco secured a block of 80MHz in the 3.5GHz band, while Claro secured an additional block of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band.
However, the frequencies in the 700 MHz, 1.9 GHz, and the AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) band between 1.695 and 2.2 GHz remained unsold.
The auction result was confirmed via a post on X, formerly Twitter, by Mauricio Lizcano, the information technology and communications minister.
Lizcano called the auction "historical" and said that the operators will begin the deployment of 5G from February, while he expects investment in 5G to reach 28 trillion pesos (around $7.11 billion) in the next decade.
Neighboring Argentina held its 5G auction in October. It was expected to raise just over $1 billion, but actually raised $875m.
