Colombian telco Claro has launched the first phase of its 5G network.

The telco has worked with Finnish vendor Nokia to launch the service, which has gone live at 1,000 sites across the country.

According to Nokia, the deployment is the largest in the country, and took only four months to complete, following the Colombian authorities handing out 5G licenses.

The 5G auction which took place in December, raised more than 1.5 billion pesos (US$380 million).

The vendor is supplying Claro with its AirScale portfolio for both indoor and outdoor scenarios as part of its agreement, which includes base stations, high-capacity Massive MIMO antennas, and remote radio head (RRH) solutions.

Nokia noted that it has agreed to deploy an additional 400 5G sites.

Claro's 5G launch covers the country's six biggest cities so far, including the capital, Bogotá, while there are plans to expand this to 14 cities later this year.

"The close collaboration of both companies was key to completing this project in record time," said Tommi Uitto, president of Mobile Networks at Nokia. "Together, we have built the foundations for spearheading the digital transformation in Colombia, which will benefit the society, its citizens, and its businesses."

Nokia has worked with Claro for more than 20 years, covering the carrier's 2G, 3G, and 4G networks, before the 5G launch.