Chilean operator Entel has completed Latin America’s first successful test of APT700 (Asia-Pacific Telecommunity 700MHz) spectrum in cooperation with Ericsson.
The trial marks an important milestone in the introduction of new low-band LTE frequencies and the development of the LTE ecosystem, and was conducted by enabling 10 test sites with equipment using APT700 MHz frequency band on Entel's live 4G LTE network in Rancagua city, located 85 km south of Santiago de Chile.
Antonio Büchi, CEO, Entel, said: "The APT700 band has the ability to provide excellent in-building coverage as well as wide area coverage in suburban and rural areas. We expect, once we have the release by the government, to deploy our nationwide network. Our customers will benefit from an LTE mobile broadband service featuring a combination of high speed, improved throughput and low latency, all of which combine to provide an enhanced user experience."
In February 2014, the Chilean government completed its LTE spectrum auction and Entel was awarded one of three licenses on the APT700 frequency.
