Claro Colombia has commenced the rollout of its new 700MHz 4G network, with 30 base transceiver stations (BTS) deployed in Ciudad Salitre and Eastern Bogota. In the coming days, the 700MHz deployment will be extended to Medellin, Rionegro, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Villavicencio and Bucaramanga. Back in December 2019, in the government’s multi-band spectrum auction, Claro won a 20MHz block in the 700MHz band alongside 30MHz in the 2500MHz band.
In addition, Claro – which was issued with a block of 3.5GHz spectrum to stage non-commercial 5G trials in June – is poised to stage additional tests in Medellin, Cali and Barrancabermeja in the near future. The telco’s initial 5G test took place at the Centro Comercial Plaza Claro, in Bogota, generating download speeds of 864Mbps and upload speeds of 103Mbps.