A few days after the auction for the spectrum of the 5G network in Uruguay, a european company is close to presenting a proposal to develop this technology in the country, which could open a new chapter in the conflict around local telecommunications.
This was confirmed by the counselor and head of the sector of Economy and Trade of the European Union (EU) In uruguay, Damian Kaminski, after the business meeting that representatives of the European bloc held in Montevideo yesterday.
According to the official, the EU watches with interest three key investment sectorsamong which the 5G infrastructure in the country stands out, “where we have company proposals and we want to work with the Government in carrying out these proposals”. On the part of the national authorities there would also be interest in said rapprochement on the part of Europe.
Meanwhile, the local scene is still convulsed by the questions from private companies that will participate in the auction that will take place next Tuesday the 9th, after various administrative delays.
As last episode, Movistar, of course and Dedicated —the first two, the only private operators qualified to submit proposals in the call for bids for a block in the 5G network; and the last one, which is still claiming its participation in the competitive process, appeared in front of the Senate Industry Committeewhere they presented their criticisms of the decree that enabled the auction for the development of new technology in the country.
For its part, Movistar presented a document in which they once again insisted on the existing limitations for deployment to private operators, while the established conditions do not allow the contracting of fiber optics or its installation. In addition, they criticized “the advantages that are conferred on the state operator”, in reference to the reserved block -among the three that will be auctioned next week- to Antel.
Of course, he also questioned the high base price —established at 28 million dollars— for each block; while Dedicado, without the possibility of participating in the tender due to the requirements indicated in the specifications and conditions, again targeted the government for the “discrimination” against national companies and their intentional exclusion from the competitive process.
In this context, a European proposal could once again shake up a precarious scenario that has not yet fully settled in the country.
The European experience in Uruguay
However, this would not be the first time that a European company appears in Uruguayan telecommunications. The most recent experience is the partnership between Dedicado and the Finnish company Nokia, precisely for the provision of the 5G service in Uruguay.
In this sense, Nokia was selected at the beginning of December 2022 by Dedicated to be the provider of its Standalone 5G network (NSA) in the 3.5 GHz spectrum band (n78) with LTE in the 900 MHz spectrum band.
The objective of the Uruguayan company was to install the commercial 5G network in the Montevideo area and Cannelloni, with plans to expand to other regions and with an investment that would increase to 100 million dollars —with an amount of 40 million dollars earmarked for network expansion in the coming years.
Antel also has experience working with Nokia which, in 2019, helped establish what is considered the first commercial 5G network in Latin Americausing the 28 GHz frequency band. With restricted coverage, the deployment started in the area of Bar-Springsin the department of Maldonado.
Nokia’s experience in Latin America
Nokia also has experience working with other Latin American countries, where it has managed to co-opt most of the installation of commercial public 5G networks.
In the case of Argentina, For example, the Finnish company agreed in mid-2022 with Telecom the activation of a 5G DSS network using its technology, with five mobile antennas in the city of Rosario within a first stage of tests in the neighboring country for the complete transition to the new era of telecommunications.
For his part, in Brazil provides the DSS equipment for the company Tim —the local subsidiary of Telecom—, although this agreement does not constitute a contract for public 5G networks.
In addition, Nokia deployed the first private 5G network in the region in partnership with Brazil Port Terminal (BTP) using TIM’s spectrum and its own technology and equipment. The objective of the Finnish company is to evolve the installation towards a definitive structure after the release of the 3.5 GHz band for the city of Saints, planned by the country’s regulatory body during this year.
Source: Ambito
