The Ministry of Communications reported today that it finally assigned the part of the spectrum intended for 4G telephony for which Claro, Movistar and Personal competed (offering a total of 2,233 million dollars), the remainder of what they assigned last December and which allowed the start of 4G telephony in the country.
The fact is that 4G, in Argentina, works on two blocks: the so-called AWS, or band 4 (a combination of frequencies at 1700 and 2100 MHz), which is what local operators are using today (and subscribers who already have compatible phones), and 700 MHz, which in the case of Argentina is band 28 or APT (there are several implementations of 700 MHz).
This frequency is very attractive because it is ideal for suburban and rural areas, since it allows very large coverage areas, and is the key for local operators comply with the scheduled times for the deployment of 4G networks in the country (which has five years to reach all towns with more than 500 inhabitants).
The expansion of 4G implies an improvement of 3G in the connectivity part (the speed at which a phone, tablet or antenna accesses the Internet), but it does not affect calls, which continue to be made through 2G or 3G.
Few phones for now
A A point to keep in mind is that for now there are very few phones sold in the country that support the 700 MHz band, something that will change in the coming months, accompanying the deployment of this frequency. The phones that work with 4G in Argentina are those that have AWS and (eventually; it is not exclusive) the 700 MHz APT band. If the phone only has AWS and reaches an area where there are only 700 MHz 4G antennas, it will not have that service (yes, 2G or 3G).
The 700 MHz band is the one assigned to the three companies: Movistar (703-713 MHz and 758-768 MHz), Personal (713-723 MHz and 768-778 MHz) and Claro (723-738 MHz and 778-793 MHz).
The three local operators now have 10 business days to make the corresponding payment that enables them to use those frequencies.
Source of Information: La Nación Tecnología
