TV everywhere boost for Venezuela as LTE era begins Details Juan Fernandez Gonzalez | 03 December 2014 By awarding DirecTV, Telefónica and Cantv with a 4G licence, Venezuela's Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Conatel) has taken the country into the LTE technology era. 4gvenThe companies will also develop free Internet space across the country in exchange for the licence. The new transmission speeds for data will enable operators and video platforms to deliver better and faster TV everywhere and multiscreen services, as well as more stable voice, text and Internet features. The necessary infrastructure to extend the coverage throughout the country is not yet in place, which is why the first licences will focus on offering an LTE service which will serve universities and high schools in the most populated cities. The three awarded companies along with Conatel plan to start offering the first transmissions by June next year. According to William Castillo, Conatel's president, the service aims to cover 80% of the country by 2019, to which end both private and public operators will be investing over $2,000 million over the next five years. The public bid for LTE licences was launched in December 2013. After 12 months, six frequency slots in the 1,710-2,170MHz and the 2,500-2,600MHz bands were awarded to Venezuela's public telco and the US and Spanish private operators.