BOGOTA (WiMAX Day). The communications ministry in Columbia announced that is has extended the deadline for the auction of 3.5 GHz spectrum licenses until November 23. The auction date was first extended in August and its date was re-set to October 23. Three licenses are to be awarded for the spectrum in each of the country’s 32 regions. Cable Union of the West, a new entrant in the cable TV market in Columbia, hopes that the delay might improve their chances in bidding for the spectrum. Cable Union is a recent player in the market and was the least established of all bidders. However since its application was made in August, the company has grown quickly and with 160,000 subscribers is now the third largest cable TV operator. The company does not plan to bid on all regions of Columbia. It presently operates in Pereira, Medellín and Cali, and is expanding to the north. Each region will require different levels of investment for WiMAX, and Cable Union can’t afford investment in big cities. According to Ricardo Duke, general manager of Cable Union, “a city such as Bogota requires at least 50 or 60 intermediate antennas and cities like Pereira needs three or five antennas to cover 15 to 30 kilometers.”