Movistar announced today that starting Monday it will begin offering its 4G telephone service in our country. It will initially be available on a handful of antennas that serve the downtown area of Buenos Aires (where the service of local operators is notoriously bad) and from there to what is known as the Northern corridor (the coastal area of the city that extends from the center to Nuñez). Then it will gradually spread to other areas, as they update their network equipment.
It will take several months, however, for a substantial part of the city to have 4G, and more time for it to spread to the rest of the country. In fact, the company will offer an application so that its customers can see how areas with 4G service are being enabled, since the initial coverage will be minimal.
The company confirmed that it already has some antennas in operation in test mode, and that it activated the service after the payment of 209 million dollars that it made yesterday to obtain a batch of frequencies that allow it to use LTE technology to provide 4G service in the country.
Personal (which today, in theory, will do the corresponding payment) is also turning on some LTE antennas, according to reports from some users, although it did not make any formal announcement. Claro paid US$ 281 million last week to access the frequencies that will allow it to provide service.
Change the chip, have a modern phone
According to the company, to access the 4G telephone service, Movistar customers must change the chip (which manages which networks a phone can connect to) and must have a phone compatible with these LTE networks; A few have been sold in the country so far, but this will change next year as manufacturers begin to offer 4G phones in the country.
Claro customers will also have to make the change, as the company confirmed to LA NACION; Most of those from Personal, on the other hand, will be able to access that company's 4G networks without changing the chip, since Personal has been supplying compatible SIMs to its customers for a long time.
It is not necessary to change the telephone plan; It is enough that it includes connectivity (with a block of monthly megabytes or a nominally unlimited connection), since the 4G service offers faster Internet access, rather than a different service.
However, Movistar confirmed that it will offer special connectivity plans for intensive 4G users.
The implementation of 4G does not invalidate 3G (nor 2G), which will continue to work. It is not a mandatory migration, but an additional Internet connection option. Those who are not interested in 4G will be able to continue using their 3G phones.
In fact, Movistar's 4G is only for Internet connection; Calls and SMS will continue to be sent over 2G or 3G networks.
Source of Information: La Nación Tecnología
