# Overview of Mobile Communications in Colombia and Introduction to 5G
## 3 Analysis and Results
### Current Networks
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Comeny Providing the Service** & **Spectrum Use Permit** & **Virtual Operator** \\ \hline Avantel S.A.S. & & \(\text{ding51}\) & \(\text{ding55}\) \\ Colombia Movil S.A. E.S.P (Tigo) & & \(\text{ding51}\) & \(\text{ding55}\) \\ Colombia Telecomunicaciones S.A. E.S.P. (Movistar) & & \(\text{ding51}\) & \(\text{ding55}\) \\ Comunicacion Cellular S.A. COMCEL S.A. & & \(\text{ding51}\) & \(\text{ding55}\) \\ Partners Telecom Colombia S.A.S & & \(\text{ding51}\) & \(\text{ding55}\) \\ Mercanet S.A.S & & \(\text{ding55}\) & \(\text{ding51}\) \\ Empresa Colombiana de Procesos Tecnologicos, & & \(\text{ding55}\) & \(\text{ding51}\) \\ Tecnologia y Comunicaciones S.A. & & \(\text{ding55}\) & \(\text{ding51}\) \\ Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogota S.A. E.S.P. & & \(\text{ding55}\) & \(\text{ding51}\) \\ Virgin Mobile Colombia S.A.S. & & \(\text{ding55}\) & \(\text{ding51}\) \\ Nesh Movil S.A.S. & & \(\text{ding55}\) & \(\text{ding51}\) \\ Setro Mobile Group S.A.S. & & \(\text{ding55}\) & \(\text{ding51}\) \\ Almacenes Exito Inversiones S.A.S. & & \(\text{ding55}\) & \(\text{ding51}\) \\ Logistic Flash Colombia S.A.S. & & \(\text{ding55}\) & \(\text{ding51}\) \\ Suma Movil S.A.S & & \(\text{ding55}\) & \(\text{ding51}\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Companies offering mobile telecommunications services in Colombia. Source: [59]. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Year** & **Frequency** & **Amount of Spectrum** & **Allocation Value** & **Supplier** \\ \hline
703–713 & 20 MHz & 285.673.904 & Colombia Movil S.A. E.S.P. (Tigo) \\ \hline
713–723 & 20 MHz & 451.064.060 & \\
768–778 & 20 MHz & 285.673.904 & Partners Telecom Colombia S.A.S. \\ \hline
723–733 & 20 MHz & 285.673.904 & WOM \\
778–798 & 20 MHz & 285.450.582 & Comunicacion Cellular S.A. (Claro) \\
2019 & 2515–2520 & 10 MHz & 88.154.918 & Partners Telecom Colombia S.A.S. \\
2635–2640 & 10 MHz & 52.165.481 & WOM \\ \hline
2520–2525 & 10 MHz & 50.822.399 & \\
2660–2665 & 10 MHz & 59.487.802 & Comunicacion Cellular S.A. (Claro) \\ \hline
2550–2555 & 10 MHz & 81.535.840 & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: _Cont._(see Figure 6). These data show that incumbent operators have a very large market share, which should motivate government agencies to develop policies that allow MVNOs to become more competitive for the benefit of users. In terms of mobile Internet access, there has been a notable increase in demand for 4G technology. As shown in Figure 7, there is a decreasing trend in the number of users who  
Figure 5: Percentage of mobile Internet accesses by subscribers in 2022. Source: [60]. Figure 6: Percentage of traffic carried by mobile operators in 2022. Source: [60]. used 2G and 3G as their access methods. In addition, a spike in 4G access was observed from July 2020, a period that coincided with the social isolation measures resulting from the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19), which forced millions of people to carry out different activities through remote or virtual access. Colombia has made great strides in the modernization of mobile telecommunications networks, especially in the deployment of 4G in large and small cities. Figure 8a,b present information on the technologies installed in the BSs deployed in municipalities with populations over and under 100 thousand inhabitants. The MinTIC's projections for the modernization and expansion of cellular networks in Colombia indicate that this process should be carried out in the short term, prioritizing the definitive transition to 4G and the expansion of coverage in the national territory, especially in rural areas, based on the obligations acquired by the different operators in the spectrum auctions, especially for those that obtained permits for use and commercialization in the 700 MHz band. In 2020, 4G coverage in municipalities with less than 100,000 inhabitants is mainly concentrated in the Andean region, which is the richest and most industrialized area of the country.