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Complexity of questions from interested parties causes project to be pushed back by a month, government says.
Mexico will announce the results of its shared mobile network tender a month later than planned after the government pushed back the deadline for various stages in the process, it emerged this week.
The delay will give interested parties more time to obtain the necessary documentation and raise any queries about the process with the authorities, according to various local press reports on Tuesday.
In view of the number and complexity of queries and requests for clarification submitted by the contestants, it became necessary for the Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT) to extend its deadline for providing information, El Universal quoted the SCT’s head of telecoms policy and broadcasting Ezequiel Gil Huerta as saying.
The SCT had intended to hold a meeting to formulate responses to the various queries raised on 22 March, but moved the date to 6 April to allow for more time, La Jornada explained. That delay means pushing back a number of other deadlines, including the deadline for filings with telecoms regulator Ifetel, and will therefore delay the whole contest.
Both news outlets said that as a result, the competition will come to a head on 28 September, rather than the previously announced date of 24 August.
Mexico formally opened its shared network tender in late January.
The winner of the tender will be granted cheap access to spectrum in the 700-MHz band and a 20-year public private partnership to build out an LTE network. Mobile operators and MVNOs will then be able to rent capacity on that network.
