Avantel launches LTE

Colombia’s Avantel has launched 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) services, offering the platform in 20 cities, whilst a national roaming agreement with the incumbent cellcos has granted the operator 3G coverage of 1,100 municipalities, TeleSemana writes. The network, supplied by Finland’s Nokia Networks, cost the newcomer around USD250 million and is expected to reach 60 cities within the next year. Avantel is aiming to sign up one million subscribers within its first year, and is offering customisable multi-device and multi-user plans. As previously noted by CommsUpdate, Avantel struggled to secure roaming agreements with its entrenched rivals, despite the regulator’s decision to make the forging of such pacts a condition of their own 4G concessions. Avantel was forced to seek intervention from the Communication Regulation Commission (CRC) in early 2014, following which the regulator forced the trio of incumbents – Claro, Movistar and Tigo – to sign roaming deals with the newcomer.