Claro goes for the smart home business: what will it offer

For this 2023, the operator Claro Colombia seeks to concentrate its investments in different verticals: coverage, deployment of fiber optics, technology, and in the innovation of products that facilitate the connection of the devices that make up the home.

Carlos Zenteno de los Santos, president of Claro Colombia, spoke about how the company is progressing in the country and its position on 5G.

(See: Claro announced a $45 billion investment in the Atlantic).

How did 2023 start?

The balance of Claro Colombia is very positive, especially due to all the growth we have had, both in fixed services and in mobile services, in the mass market and in the business market. This growth has been based on the customer experience, on the investments we are making, both in the network and in infrastructure, in the Data Center, in our digital solutions; In addition to all the focus we have put on application development, through a software factory where we have more than 2,000 developers.

Investment in technology has also been key. It should be noted that our purpose as an América Móvil group and as Claro is to enable a better world and have a better Colombia through technology. That’s what we do every day.

In terms of investment, do you expect to exceed the 2022 figure?

Yes, we plan to exceed last year’s investment and these will focus on the mobile network, increasing coverage and network capacity.

Now, when I say coverage, it is because we are reaching smaller populations that have between 2,000 and 3,000 inhabitants.

In the growth of the fiber network, so far this year we have already commercially launched 15 new municipalities with fiber coverage and we are talking about populations between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants.

Likewise, our investment will be focused on data centers, on our nationwide transmission network and on solutions for companies.

(See: Claro announces a new alliance with AWS for companies to migrate to the cloud).

What business solutions have you been investing in?

We are investing in automation, big data, analytics, everything related to cloud solutions, artificial intelligence and new product development.

In this part of product innovation, we recently launched Claro TV Plus, which is an app that can be downloaded to cell phones or smart TVs, and users can have access to the channels and programming, in fact return the content 24 hours on the cell phone and record up to 400 hours of content. We also have a smart speaker, which is a voice assistant.

Does this mean that Claro will bet on this type of smart device for users?

Yes, definitely. We are going to be working very hard on the Connected Home and basically it is that through the Mi Claro app users will be able to connect all the devices in the home, for example the blinds, the robot that cleans the house, the pet feeder , anyway.

We must diversify and one of those bets is the smart home where customers can connect all their devices with us.

(See: 5G and rural connectivity).

Going back to connectivity, how have you been working with internet service providers (ISPs)?

Relations with ISPs are very good. And from everything I have heard about government programs, I can say that Claro is complementary to all that is being done. We are the network that connects those ISPs and community projects. We have always said so and we want to help close that gap and reach more remote areas. We have sat down with the Government, with the ICT Minister and with the High Councilor to make Claro’s entire infrastructure available.

How do you see the 5G panorama in Colombia?

There are two news, one bad and one good. The bad news is that we are behind with respect to the other countries on the continent, but the good news is that some steps have been taken at the local level since the last quarter of last year. So we hope that the tender documents will be released in the second semester as reported and that the spectrum can be tendered. We are ready and we have been working on it.

What observations does Claro have regarding the spectrum auction?

Among the observations we have, we point out, as a first point, that the values ​​of the spectrum are updated, since here in Colombia the prices are very high. The second thing is that obligations to do are considered, that is, coverage at reasonable values, since this guarantees that the operators go to those places where there is no connectivity. The third thing is that legal certainty be maintained over time.

(See: Musk would create a company to compete with ChatGPT: these are his plans).

How is the 2G network shutdown progressing?

Although at one point we announced the shutdown of the 2G network, we realized that there are still many small communities that use 2G phones, so what we have announced is that we are going to let customers gradually migrate according to its availability of resources. We are currently financing around 200,000 cell phones per month.

There have been criticisms on the porting issue, how have you been handling this issue?

We have been handling this issue according to the regulation. We are respectful of the norm and we understand if a user seeks to change operator.

JOHANA LORDUY
Journalist Portfolio