Entel Chile, the Full-service provider, has announced an update on its 5G operations one year after launching its 5G network in the country. In one year of the operations, 10 per cent of the total Entel connections are using 5G technology. Furthermore, as per the Subtel report in June, Entel leads 5G connections in chile with 63 per cent of total connections nationwide. One year after the official launch of the 5G network in Chile, Entel announced that 1,087,118 customers used the 5G network.
Of the 270 communes that were covered under 5G from Entel, as per a company report in November 2022, Las Condes (119,092 GB), Santiago (91,326 GB), Providencia (53,576 GB ), La Florida (27,594 GB) and Nunoa (22,427 GB) are the communes that carry most of the network traffic.
At the National level, the cities of Temuco (12,772 GB), Vina del Mar (10,947 GB), Rancagua (9,684 GB), Iquique (9,174 GB) and Antofagasta (8,636 GB) stand out in usage.
The company also announced its users' usage of 5G services concerning applications, such as social networks and streaming, highlighting Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Netflix. An average Entel customer consumes 20.7GB, of which 5.4 GB of usage is on the 5G Network. According to the telco, average download speeds over the network reached 203 Mbps.
The telco offers 89 cell phone models that allow users to connect to 5G, and in October, these models represented 57% of total sales. In addition, 5 of these models are among the 10 most purchased. The Samsung A22, 128 GB iPhone 13, Xiaomi Redmi 10, Samsung A52s, and Samsung Galaxy A53 are the most purchased devices by customers between January and November, indicating that 5G is already compatible with various smartphones purchased.
Entel also said that to experience 5G, customers need to have a phone that supports the technology, and both prepaid and postpaid (subscription) users can access the 5G Network.
Entel also highlighted the speed at which the million 5G users were exceeded in the 5G Network. Entel reached this milestone only ten months after its launch in October 2022. With 4G, it took 19 months to get that user base, Entel announced.
According to data published by sector regulator the Department of Telecommunications (Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones, Subtel) there were a total of 1.587 million active 5G subscriptions in Chile at the end of September 2022.
Entel's Regulation and Corporate Affairs manager, Manuel Araya, said, "Our commitment has always been to bring 5G closer to the largest number of people, in the shortest possible time, because we understand connectivity as a basic enabler for the inclusion of people, contributing to the development of the country. Thus, the speed of deployment of this technology has been significantly faster than in previous experiences. In any case, the consolidation of 5G will be seen gradually, to the extent that the network is consolidated and the next stages of deployment are established."
Entel announced an investment of US $ 350 Million in 5G for the 2021-2023 period, and the company intends to continue advancing with the second phase.
Source: https://telecomtalk.info/entel-chile-million-5g-users-first-year/641488/