Mexico’s Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) has announced that the tender to build and run the country's wholesale shared network on the 700 MHz band (Red Compartida) has been awarded to the Altan consortium including Mexican operators Megacable and Axtel. Altan was the only remaining bidder after the SCT last week disqualified Rivada Networks, which continues to dispute the decision after it was accused of failing to submit a MXN 1 billion bond in time.
Altan has pledged to cover 92.2 percent of the Mexican population within seven years, with the government previously announcing that 85 percent coverage would need an investment of around USD 3.5 billion, rising to USD 7 billion for 95 percent. Under the terms of the 20-year public-private partnership, mobile operators will then be able to rent space on the 4G network in exchange for cheap use of high quality spectrum in the 700 MHz band.
According to Reuters, Altan’s largest shareholder is Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, with 33.38 percent, followed by the China-Mexico managed by a unit of the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, with 23.36 percent.
