Claro Colombia has launched a live 5G network trial with Finnish vendor Nokia. The pilot, which the partners say is the largest to take place in the country to date, will cover mobile, fixed-wireless access (FWA) and corporate 5G services using 3.5GHz spectrum. The trial will initially cover four cities – Bogota, Medellin, Cali and Barrancabermeja – and run for six months, in line with a temporary spectrum grant from the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications (Ministerio de Tecnologias de la Informacion y las Comunicaciones, MinTIC). Claro says it intends to use 5G connectivity to support sectors such as e-health, smart cities and immersive education via a combination of public and private partnerships.
Running in parallel, Claro notes that it is continuing to work on its nationwide 700MHz deployment, which targets the deployment of 1,348 cell sites in 30 provinces within five years. Carlos Zenteno, CEO at Claro Colombia, commented: ‘We have the superior commitment to keep Colombia connected and at the forefront of technology while advancing towards providing more coverage in the entire territory and nationwide with mobile services.’