Nokia sealed a deal with Telefonica’s Movistar Chile to provide equipment for the operator’s 5G rollout, as the country prepares to launch next-generation connectivity after reportedly becoming the first nation in Latin America to hold an auction.

The vendor stated it will deploy its AirScale portfolio to launch Movistar Chile’s 5G network, in addition to upgrading its 4G infrastructure to strengthen critical backbone across key markets.

Movistar Chile will be able to use a recently-acquired 50MHz of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band, which it said was its first step towards launching a commercial network.

The companies claimed Chile was the first country in the region to sell 5G-suitable spectrum, with an auction in February raising more than $450 million as the nation plans to provide enhanced mobile broadband and next-generation use cases spanning Industry 4.0, public sector, health innovations and private wireless.

Sale
The move comes after rumours Telefonica was interested in selling its Movistar subsidiary in Chile as part of an ongoing restructure to retreat from Latin America.

El Economista reported Telefonica had hired Citi and Morgan Stanley to find buyers for its assets in the region, with its business in Chile next on the chopping block.

However, in its latest statement, Telefonica explained it would evaluate the “right circumstances” for deploying 5G in each market, taking steps towards evolving its networks in several countries.

Movistar Chile CTO Antonio Bueno said 5G would “bring enormous potential to the country”.