daniel larrosadirector of the Broad Front (FA) at Antel, voted against the company paying US$28,075,500 to access the block that will allow deploy 5G technology, which was auctioned by the Communications Services Regulatory Unit (Ursec). That generated crosses in the company’s board of directors.
Ursec auctioned three blocks. Movistar and Claro, who were the only ones to participate in the auction, bid and agreed to two of them this week. The rest was reserved for Antel.
Definitely, Movistar he stayed with the segment of 3700 to 3800 MHz by US$28,051,000, Clear acquired the of 3300 to 3400 MHz for US$28,100,000 and Antel paid US$28,075,500 per block from 3600 to 3700 MHz of the 3.5 GHz band.
When the auction ended, Ursec informed Antel that this block was available and the price it had to pay (which had to be the average value at which the other two were acquired). It was then that the board discussed whether or not to make the band assignment effective and how Antel would pay that price, sources from the entity explained to The Observer.
Both votes had the refusal of the Frente Amplio director, although they finally came out with votes in favor of the ruling party.
Crossing with Gurméndez
Antel confirmed the use of the band and, after a board vote, confirmed the payment. The president of the company, Gabriel Gurméndez, considered that the vote for the director of the FA was “a negative vote that, if it had been successful, would put a brake on the development of the public company and amputate Antel’s ability to compete with Movistar and Claro, which They’re going to acquire their respective bands.”
As he explained, Larrosa voted based on “two excuses that are not true.” On the one hand, he “said that the accounting criteria for allocation of this amount had been changed, as an investment compared to previous administrations,” and on the other, “that this increased the contribution to General Revenue by US$28 million.”
Gurméndez assured that the Frente Amplio director is lying and that his vote goes against the development of a key project for Antel.
“Obtaining this spectrum is the fundamental factor for Antel to maintain its technological and commercial leadership, and to be competitive, one of the main strategic plans of the company. The only possible path is to have this spectrum and when the moment of definition arrived the Frente Amplo voted against”, stated Gurméndez, who considered that the attitude of the Frente Amplio director is “unheard of” and “puts the famous stick in the wheel”.
As indicated by the president, the company’s plans are to implement 5G “as soon as possible.”
