The Mexican government will reportedly make a decision on whether to redistribute the valuable spectrum held by TV and internet provider MVS Comunicaciones in June.
Local newspaper El Economista reports that the Secretariat of Communications and…
The Mexican government will reportedly make a decision on whether to redistribute the valuable spectrum held by TV and internet provider MVS Comunicaciones in June.
Local newspaper El Economista reports that the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) had said that it would take the decision before the end of this quarter.
According to media reports, MVS is looking to avoid losing its licence for 190MHz in the 2.5GHz band.
Telecoms regulator COFETEL has reportedly not been satisfied that the spectrum is being fully utilised and has decided not to renew certain regional licences within MVS’ holdings that expire between 2011 and 2018. It is also considering re-auctioning the spectrum. This follows a failed attempt between MVS and Clearwire to organise a WiMAX network in 2009.
In April, MVS announced a plan to roll out an LTE network as part of a consortium with US WiMAX provider Clearwire, chipmaker Intel and local operator Alestra.
The LTE network, which would potentially cover 55 million people and operate in the 2.5GHz band, would reportedly cost US$1bn.The company is still waiting for various regulatory approvals and guidelines to be set. If the project is approved, the consortium would reportedly make an initial investment of US$400m and then sell access to the LTE network to third parties.
MVS said that KDDI and two South Korean telcos (KT and SK Telecom) had also expressed interest in participating in the project.
It noted that several more potential investors, including BT, Comcast, Google, and Vodafone had also made contact with it.
