Claro allowed to participate in 4G spectrum auction

Colombia’s government has announced that the country’s largest cellco by subscribers, Claro, will be allowed to bid for spectrum in an LTE auction due to take place in February 2013. The auction has previously been postponed due to concerns that Claro could extend its dominance to the mobile broadband sector if it is allowed to participate. However, following discussions between the Communication Regulation Commission (CRC), the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications (Mintic), and the National Spectrum Agency (ANE), Claro will be allowed to bid for spectrum, but only in the 2.5GHz band. The winning operators will be expected to provide 100% coverage of major cities by June 2014.