# Overview of Mobile Communications in Colombia and Introduction to 5G
## 4 Conclusions
Although spectrum management in Colombia is harmonized with international standards, in the authors' opinion there are obvious shortcomings in the classification of 4G and the implementation of 5G in Colombia. First and foremost is the lack of defined and available spectrum for 5G-only use, which prevents TNSPs from offering the service to users. Another relevant factor is the slow time between auctions, which does not correspond to technological needs and the evolution of mobile communications. Finally, the current spectrum caps for mobile Internet services prevent new operators from entering the market, unless they do so as MVNOs. For this reason, Colombia needs to take steps to reduce spectrum allocation times and increase the current caps. However, spectrum allocation is not enough: additional policies and strategies need to be adopted, such as incentivizing and allowing the use of bands above 20 GHz, for example, in pilot tests. Even though several TNSPs were interested in this type of frequency, the MinICT only granted permits in the 587 MHz and 3500 MHz bands, delaying the possibility of obtaining relevant information on signal behavior in the centimeter and millimeter bands in urban and suburban scenarios in Colombia. Pilot tests on high frequencies not currently used in mobile services will provide more information on key elements such as propagation and interference with services operating in adjacent bands. Importantly, auctions in other countries have adopted the use of these spectrum bands, demonstrating their importance in the future deployment of 5G, especially in urban or densely populated scenarios. It is also mandatory to know as soon as possible the results of the tests carried out on permits issued in 2020. At the end of July 2022, two years have passed since the authorizations were granted and there are still no official publications on the subject. This information will allow TNSPs that do not benefit from spectrum use permits for pilot testing to use the data to properly structure their 5G investment proposals, including in the future spectrum auction. On the user side, individuals and businesses or sectors that want to adopt 5G will be forced to replace their existing equipment or purchase new technology if they want to realize the full potential of this technology. To this end, the Colombian state will have to generate standards and adopt policies that encourage the updating or acquisition, not only of terminal equipment but also of other tools such as IoT, DB, and ML. All the above discussion leads us to conclude that there is currently no favorable scenario for 5G deployment in Colombia before the end of 2022. Regulators and operators should therefore focus their efforts on strengthening and expanding 4G coverage in the short term while the necessary steps towards the 5G scenario are put in place. Conceptualization, A.B.-U., A.C.-P. and D.C.-P.; methodology, A.B.-U., A.C.-P. and D.C.-P.; validation, A.B.-U., A.C.-P. and D.C.-P.; formal analysis, A.B.-U. and A.C.-P.; investigation, A.B.-U., A.C.-P., D.C.-P., J.A.M.-L., F.M.A.-C. and J.M.-A. ; resources, A.C.-P., A.B.-U. and D.C.-P.; data curation, A.C.-P. and A.B.-U. ; writing--original draft preparation, A.B.-U., A.C.-P. and D.C.-P.; writing--review and editing, A.B.-U, D.C.-P., A.C.-P., J.A.M.-L., F.M.A.-C., J.M.-A. and A.H.-L; visualization, A.B.-U., A.C.-P. and D.C.-P.; supervision, A.C.-P., A.B.-U. and D.C.-P.; project administration, A.C.-P., A.B.-U. and D.C.-P.; funding acquisition, A.C.-P., D.C.-P., J.A.M.-L. and F.M.A.-C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research received support from the AUIP (Iberoamerican University Association for Postgraduate Studies).