VENEZUELA

摘要

A press release on the website of Venezuelan telecom regulator Conatel confirms that the government has relaunched a 4G mobile broadband spectrum license tender in the 2100MHz/1700MHz (AWS) and 2500MHz-2690MHz (2600MHz) frequency bands. The release says that under a government notice in Official Gazette 40,480 of 21 August 2014 the relevant state agencies and personnel were assigned to implement the process of allocating the 4G frequency blocks, and in cooperation with the communications and information ministry, Conatel will start its activities in the week commencing 25 August, reactivating a process which was suspended in January this year. Two paired blocks of frequencies in the 1710MHz-2170MHz band and four blocks in the 2600MHz band are up for grabs, under nationwide licenses with validity of 15 years, while full terms and conditions remain the same as established in previously published documents for the tender (launched in early December last year), Conatel added. Domestically-owned Digitel is currently the country's sole 4G LTE mobile operator, with launches awaited from its two larger cellular rivals, Spanish-backed Movistar and state-backed Movilnet (part of CANTV).