Argentina’s communications regulator (ENACOM) launched a tender for bandwidth slots for 5G technology providers involving bands ranging from 3,300 MHz to 3,600 MHz.

The tender’s terms and conditions specify a maximum spectrum accumulation limit of 200 MHz per Licensee for each operating area. The tender will encompass a total of 300 MHz, divided into three lots of 100 MHz each, with an initial grant term of 20 years.

The base price for each lots is US$ 350,000,000.

Eligible offerors must:

1. be holders of service licenses for information technology and communications.
2. have at least 50,000 declared accesses and be providing services in at least 10 locations within the country.
3. have a net worth not less than AR$10,000,000,000 (roughly US$ 28,000,000) according to their last financial statement.

These conditons will be verified in a pre-qualification process. Once an offeror has been pre-qualified it must pay US$ 5,000,000 to participate in the final stage of the bidding process. This amount will be set off against the payment due if awarded the license or lost otherwise.

The government has reserved a spectrumsegment within the 3.6-3.7 GHz band for the state-run operator Arsat, to enable the adoption of 5G in the public sector or through agreements with cooperatives and small businesses.

The deadline for submitting bids is September 29th at 11:59 PM.

The tender’s terms and conditions can be accessed (in Spanish) through the following link: https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar/detalleAviso/primera/293016/20230829