Mexico Raises Spectrum Cap on Forthcoming Auction

­The Mexican anti-trust commission, CFC has reviewed the details of the forthcoming radio spectrum auction and raised the spectrum cap to 90MHz per individual mobile network operator. The previous plans had imposed a limit of 80Mhz.

The spectrum cap applies across the 800Mhz, 1700MHz and 1900MHz frequency bands.

The CFC said its recommendation is aimed at encouraging new operators to enter the market without inhibiting growth of existing service providers, reported BNAmericas.

The country has four networks, but the market is dominated by América Móvil though its local Telecel subsidiary. Reports from the Mobile World subscriber tracker notes that the operator ended June 2009 with just over 58 million customers, and a market share of 72%. The other three operators are Nextel (2.8m), Iusacell (3.5m) and Telefonica (15.9m).

The auction is expected to start next month following several delays. Local television giant, Grupo Televisa has previously indicated that it is interested in bidding to set up its own network. The incumbent operators are also expected to participate in order to boost their spectrum holdings, which average around the 50Mhz mark at the moment.

The government is also considering a four-percent tax on voice calls and internet services.

On the web: BNAmericas - Mobile World

Posted to the site on 27th September 2009