📶Antel, Antel Arena and telecoms· 2023
The 5G auction ended without bidding and with a block reserved for Antel
Movistar and Claro paid around US$28 million each for their blocks and Antel got the third at the average price, with no bidding. The private firms alleged a state advantage.
Figure published by the sources
US$ 28,1 millones pagó Claro y US$ 28,051 millones Movistar por un bloque de 100 MHz cada uno; Antel pagó el promedio de ambos
Bodies involved
ANTEL
What it is
The communications regulator Ursec auctioned three 100 MHz blocks in the 3.5 GHz band on 9 May 2023 to deploy 5G networks, at a base price of US$28 million per block, one block maximum per bidder and a 25-year concession. One of the three blocks was reserved for Antel: it did not compete in the bidding and, according to Montevideo Portal, "will have to pay the average of the prices offered by the private companies". Before the call, Movistar, Claro and the international association GSMA filed objections to the terms.
What is questioned
El Observador reported on 16 February 2023 that Movistar, in a fifteen-page document, called the reserved lot a "discriminatory privilege to the detriment of private operators" and asked for a closed auction; Claro asked to cut the base price from US$28 million to US$20 million, alleged an "enormous anti-competitive advantage" for Antel and demanded an eight-month deployment deadline applying equally to all operators. The GSMA warned that the base price was "high" by regional standards and that high prices discourage network investment. Ursec replied that most proposals "exceed the tender terms" and were matters for the Executive's decree. The outcome, according to Ámbito and Montevideo Portal, was Claro at US$28.1 million for 3300-3400 MHz and Movistar at US$28.051 million for 3700-3800 MHz, after "seven rounds without bidding". Ursec board member Pablo Siris (Frente Amplio) noted the auction "ended after 7 rounds with no bidding", and Pedro Bordaberry called it "an auction with no bids".
Why it matters to you
Spectrum is a scarce public asset: what the State charges for it is revenue that does not come out of taxpayers' pockets, and what Antel pays comes from a public company's cash. How that price is set and whether there is real competition shapes both the revenue collected and the price and coverage of the 5G every user later pays for.
Where it stands
The auction closed on 9 May 2023 after seven rounds with no competitive offers. National telecommunications director Guzmán Acosta y Lara highlighted that 5% of the US$56 million raised from the private operators goes to education, according to Ámbito; Ursec president Mercedes Aramendía projected the State would receive more than US$84 million in total. As of this file's closing (August 2026) there are no published court or administrative rulings that have reversed the auction's outcome.
The open-data cross-reference
Open this set in the explorerWhat the state awarded to the bodies and companies named in this file, according to the official Compras Estatales data. It is a cross-reference for scale, not proof of irregularity: it includes contracts nobody questioned.
How this cross-reference was builteverything recorded under the body's buying unit (not only this case) · between 2023 and 2023
Who was paid
Suppliers ranked by amount awarded in the cross-reference. A contract with several suppliers counts in full against each one: this is a ceiling, not a split.
What it bought
Spending by category, from price times quantity of each awarded item, in the contract currency.
The detail
The largest contracts in the cross-reference, high to low. Tap one for its record and the link to the official purchase.
- DESARROLLO DE SOFTWAREGUF S.R.L. · 24 jul. 2023$ 3,3 M
- DESARROLLO DE SOFTWAREINTERFASE S A · 05 set. 2023$ 3,1 M
- GESTION DE PROYECTOS TICSTAVROS MOYAL Y ASOCIADOS S R L · 24 jul. 2023$ 2,4 M
- MANTENIMIENTO DE SOFTWAREINTERAMERICANA DE COMPUTOS S A · 31 may. 2023$ 19.416
Amounts in pesos, normalised. Records with impossible quantities are excluded from the total. Payment for spectrum is a Ursec concession, not a state purchase: it does not appear in the procurement search. What can be cross-referenced are the equipment and works purchases Antel makes to deploy the network. The reserved block was provided for in the Executive's decree and was not annulled by any known ruling.