WOM in Chile

The figures on this page come from SUBTEL, Chile’s telecoms regulator, and from the Chilean and trade press, each with its date.

WOM’s lines in June 2026

For SUBTEL, a line is in the count if it was used in the 30 days before. In June 2026 it counted 4,830,328 WOM lines, 20.4% of the national total, of which 3,736,694 were on contract and 1,093,634 prepaid. Those prepaid lines were 26.3% of all prepaid lines in Chile, a higher share than WOM holds of the market as a whole.

On data, SUBTEL’s June 2026 series shows 2,802,709 WOM connections on 4G and 2,586,425 on 5G. The 5G figure is 23.9% of the 10.8 million 5G connections in the country.

How did WOM leave Chapter 11?

WOM said in April 2024 that it could not pay its creditors, and before the filing it owed more than US$1 billion. A bankruptcy court in Delaware confirmed its reorganisation plan in March 2025, and the deal closed on 21 March 2025. Creditors including BlackRock, Moneda Asset Management and Amundi took 92% of WOM’s equity for US$405 million. The plan included a US$500 million rights offering, cut financial debt by more than US$650 million and left US$332 million of first-lien secured bonds due six years after it took effect. Chris Bannister returned as chief executive.

In early 2026 the press reported that WOM had made a binding offer of about US$1 billion for Telefónica Chile; WOM declined to comment. Telefónica sold the business to NJJ and Millicom in February 2026.

WOM’s 4G and 5G

SUBTEL’s connection series first shows WOM on 4G in November 2015, with 115,866 connections. In December 2021 WOM was one of the three operators that switched on 5G, Developing Telecoms reported, and SUBTEL’s series counts WOM 5G connections from March 2022, when there were 115,330.

Is WOM’s 5G rollout finished?

Not yet. The 2021 tender set a deadline that expired in October 2023 with WOM’s network incomplete. On 3 September 2025 WOM and SUBTEL agreed new terms through the State Defence Council: WOM would pay the State more than 1.3 million UF, about US$53 million, and drop its claims against Chile. All the localities named in the original tender were due by 5 March 2026, 90% of the rest of the project by 30 September 2026 and the remainder by 31 December 2026, with places lacking service first in line.

In October 2026 SUBTEL confirmed that WOM had not met the September milestone and was weighing whether to call guarantees worth 211,123 UF. WOM said it had reported cases of force majeure and would finish in December. Under the agreement a further breach can open proceedings to cancel the 5G concession, though opening them does not by itself mean the spectrum is lost.

Prepaid WOM lines and the new ID rule

SUBTEL’s series shows prepaid lines falling fast across Chile: there were 4,164,172 in June 2026, 22.6% fewer than a year before. Since 20 August 2026 a new prepaid line is activated only once its holder is on record with a name, an address and an ID card or passport number. Lines that existed before then are checked the next time the holder recharges or deals with the operator.

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