Chile charges WOM $2.6m for missing its 5G build milestone

Chile charges WOM $2.6m for missing its 5G build milestone

12 November 2026: Chile's telecoms undersecretariat, Subtel, has drawn 62,749.11 UF, about US$2.6 million, from WOM's guarantees after the operator missed a 30 September milestone in its 5G rollout. WOM still has until 31 December to finish all the network it committed to, and Subtel says total charges and compensation against it now come to almost US$70 million.

Not yet independently verified. The account comes from Subtel's own release of 12 November; we found no statement from WOM, and the release gives the dollar figures as approximations of amounts set in UF. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

How far short WOM fell

The milestone comes from a court settlement between WOM and the Consejo de Defensa del Estado, the state's legal defence council: by 30 September 2026, 90% of WOM's technical project had to be received by Subtel. Inspections found it well short in all three bands:

Band	Completed by 30 September	Guarantee	Amount drawn
700 MHz	53.01%	107,423 UF	39,736.08 UF
AWS	68.21%	40,700 UF	8,867.75 UF
3.5 GHz	67.55%	63,000 UF	14,145.28 UF

The charge is proportional to the shortfall, taken from guarantees totalling 211,123 UF.

What counts as built

Subtel was explicit that putting up towers or filing paperwork does not meet a milestone. A site counts only once it has been received, is operating and has transmitted continuously for at least seven days, verified by Subtel in person or remotely through the network operations centre. The regulator says it raised the number of inspections by more than 73% between 2025 and 2026.

Undersecretary Romina Garrido said the settlement, signed under the previous government, already gave WOM favourable terms, including extended deadlines, replaced guarantees and payment in instalments, and that the project is three years behind schedule. She said Subtel expects commitments to be met on the agreed timelines and conditions, and is enforcing the settlement strictly and proportionally.

The 31 December deadline and the cash compensation

The final deadline is unchanged: by 31 December 2026, all of the committed infrastructure must be deployed and received by Subtel. If WOM misses it, Subtel says it will consider every penalty available under the General Telecommunications Law and the settlement. It also refused to let WOM pay the agreed compensation in infrastructure: WOM owes the Treasury 950,000 UF in cash, in four equal yearly instalments from 2027 to 2030, the first due at the start of 2027.

The near-US$70 million total, 1,682,059.26 UF, adds this charge to payments already made for an earlier 5G delay in October 2023 (352,900 UF), for the Fibra Óptica Nacional project (316,410.15 UF), and the settlement compensation.

Coverage for business customers

Subtel stressed that the charge penalises the delay without putting service at risk: WOM's network keeps running in all three bands. For a Chilean business weighing WOM for mobile or fixed wireless 5G outside the main cities, the table above is the useful part. It shows how much of the promised rural and lower-band build was actually in place at the end of September, and the coverage WOM sells should be checked site by site until the December deadline has passed.

Sources

• Subtel: Subtel ejecuta cobros por US$2,6 millones a WOM por incumplimientos en el despliegue de la red 5G, 12 November 2026