News
Winners will build wholesale 4G network running on 700-MHz spectrum.
Mexico will launch a tender for its shared LTE network on 29 January, it emerged late last week.
The project has become the main area of focus for the country’s Ministry of Communications and Transportation and telco regulator the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), after Mexico completed its digital switchover on 31 December, reported BNamericas on Friday.
Mexico plans to roll out a shared wholesale mobile network using 90 MHz of 700-MHz spectrum, freed up by the aforementioned digital switchover.
As well as improving coverage and capacity, it is hoped the new network will also boost competition by helping smaller players and MVNOs to take on the country’s big guns led by America Movil.
Initially it was thought the project would cost US$10 billion, but the government reduced the sum to $7 billion in May 2015 after concluding that the network could be completed using fewer towers than first thought.
In all, 37 companies have expressed interest in the project, including China Telecom, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia, among others.
