BN Americas reports that one of the first is Islim Telco, reporting a filing with Mexico’s telecoms regulator, the Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT). Another two companies are also ready to start services.
The services run on 700MHz spectrum that Altán Redes won more than a year ago to build and operate the Red Compartida – Spanish for “shared network” – in competition with América Móvil, owned by Carlos Slim, and AT&T’s and Telefónica’s local operations.
Altán Redes said: “We glad to announce that we have managed to exceed the contractual coverage target of 30%. Red Compartida is now ready to serve more than 36 million Mexicans.” Of them, 5.6 million live in towns with less than 10,000 inhabitants.
The network, being supplied by Huawei and Nokia, must reach 92% of the population by 2024.
The initial services are centred on Mexico City plus the cities of Guadalajara and Monterrey. Altán has said that it is a carriers’ carrier, and will not move into the retail market.
