Mony de Swaan, head of Mexico’s telecoms regulator Cofetel has refuted allegations in the local press that he has already awarded a 30MHz block in the 1.7GHz band to the Nextel/Televisa consortium.
Speaking to one of Mexico City’s largest newspapers La…
Mony de Swaan, head of Mexico’s telecoms regulator Cofetel has refuted allegations in the local press that he has already awarded a 30MHz block in the 1.7GHz band to the Nextel/Televisa consortium.
Speaking to one of Mexico City’s largest newspapers La Jornada, de Swaan confirmed that Nextel/Televisa had submitted the highest bid in a one-horse race for that part of the auction, but no decision had been made as to the eventual winner.
This tranche of the auction allegedly raised only Ps180m (US$14m), whereas in an earlier similar-sized tranche, the spectrum auction had been competitive and had raised Ps5bn (US$393m).
Cofetel is in danger of facing legal action from other telcos involved in process, with Lusacell heading the queue of complainants.
La Jornada, notes that the power behind the Nextel/Televisa consortium is Juan Francisco Molinar Horcasitas, a former Cabinet Secretary for Communications & Transport in the Mexican Government and potential presidential candidate. De Swaan has talked about his desire for Cofetel to work closely with the Mexican government under his administration.
Cofetel will announce its decision later today.
