The Colombian subsidiary of Telefónica, Movistar, expects to close the first quarter of 2026 with 1,185 5G sites, equivalent to 86% execution of its mobile network rollout project.
The company maintains a joint venture with Tigo (Millicom), Unired, for the deployment and operation of the mobile access network.
Meanwhile, Millicom is moving forward with the acquisition of Movistar's operations, a transaction already agreed upon and approved by the competition regulator SIC. The deal is expected to be finalized during the first quarter of 2026.
According to the company, by the end of last year the 5G network had 1,021 sites installed in 99 cities in the country, exceeding the initial goal of 500 sites.
This implies that Movistar would have deployed almost half of the sites in the last quarter of the year, considering that the regulator CRC counted 423 mobile sites in the third quarter of 2025.
Claro, meanwhile, was leading the rollout with more than 2.039 sites. The subsidiary of América Móvil reported in January that it had reached more than 2.200 5G base stations in 50 cities, connecting 4.87 million users.
Claro is the main mobile operator in the market, with 28.18 million mobile internet users.
According to CRC data, Movistar had 996,057 5G mobile telephony users at the end of September, out of a total of 8.78 million mobile internet users.
Tigo, for its part, recorded 1.11 million 5G users and 8.68 million mobile internet users.
Although companies such as WOM and Telecall acquired spectrum to deploy 5G in the country, no installations have been reported. On its website, WOM indicates that the 5G service will be available soon.
Source: https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/movistar-colombia-expects-to-close-q1-2026-with-1185-5g-sites
