Mexican number three mobile operator Iusacell has today stepped up its legal fight to get the Nextel/Televisa victory in the 1.9-2.1GHz band of spectrum overturned.
Local newspaper La Jornada reported that the mobile company is filing four further suits…
Mexican number three mobile operator Iusacell has today stepped up its legal fight to get the Nextel/Televisa victory in the 1.9-2.1GHz band of spectrum overturned.
Local newspaper La Jornada reported that the mobile company is filing four further suits against Mexico’s telecoms regulator, Cofetel, and the Transport and Communications Ministry (SCT) to prevent the award of the nationwide licence in the 1.7 GHz band that the Nextel/Televisa consortium won for PS180m (US$14m). An auction earlier in the year saw the winners eventually pay more than 28 times more than the Nextel/Televisa consortium for a similar sized band of spectrum.
Iusacell was aggrieved that the only permitted bidders in the auction were Nextel/Televisa, making the whole process a one-horse race. Iusacell was not permitted to bid. When the mobile operator appealed to Cofetel, its appeal was thrown out by the regulator, hence its recourse to the courts.
Yesterday, Justice Ramírez of the Fourth District Court for Administrative Matters ruled that the consortium should be barred from assuming the licence, until an audit of the auction process is undertaken.
A previous injunction from Iusacell was recently dismissed by an Acapulco court, but several lawsuits are still pending and that has impeded the SCT from officially handing over the license.
Iusacell did not respond to a request for comment at the time of going to press.
