Mexico’s transport and communications ministry (STC) has revealed the names of the possible bidders in the country’s US$7bn shared network project. A diverse mix of 39 local and international companies submitted expressions of interest in the…
Mexico’s transport and communications ministry (STC) has revealed the names of the possible bidders in the country’s US$7bn shared network project.
A diverse mix of 39 local and international companies submitted expressions of interest in the project, which is based on a private-public partnership (PPA) scheme, including telecoms operators China Telecom, Total Play, Axtel, Alestra and MVS, along with equipment makers Huawei, Nokia, Ericsson, ADVA Optical, Cisco Systems, Motorola Solutions, SES and Qualcomm.
On Friday the ministry will publish the preliminary bidding terms for the wholesale network, which is aimed at improving nationwide mobile coverage and penetration, particularly among under-served communities, with a tender to be held in October.
The government will devote 90 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band to a nationwide 4G/LTE wireless broadband network, which should be fully operational by the end of 2018.
The winning entity or consortium, will “design, finance, deploy, operate and commercialize” the shared network, which under Mexican law may be 100%-owned by foreign investors.
Critics of the project have argued that a state-controlled infrastructure network cannot be competitive and guarantee a good service for its users, warning that the initiative could dissuade operators from investing in their own networks.
However, in an interview with TelecomFinance earlier this year, Fernando Borjon, commissioner at Mexican telecoms regulator IFT, rebutted criticism, pointing out that the government’s involvement in the plan would be limited to providing infrastructure, including spectrum released by the transition to digital terrestrial television, the fibre optic infrastructure of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and other state-owned assets, as well as rights-of-way to access the spectrum.
