Mexican 4G phones to have mandatory 700 MHz band support

News Wireless Mexico 27 NOV 2017
Mexican 4G phones to have mandatory 700 MHz band support

Mexico's Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) has announced that all LTE-compatible smartphones sold in the country will need to support the 700 MHz band with a view to facilitating mobile number portability and ensuring there are no barriers to the use of the new wholesale shared network on the 700 MHz band (Red Compartida). The announcement is part of new quality rules introduced by the watchdog to be met by mobile service providers, replacing the previous set of regulations in force since 2012. The rules will come into effect in 60 days’ time and establish quality standards in voice, messaging and data services in line with recommendations set out by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the European Institute for Telecommunications Standards (ETSI).

The Altan consortium was awarded the 20-year concession to build and run the Red Compartido a year ago, and the group is committed to covering 30 percent of the population by 31 March 2018 and 92 percent by 2023. 

Categories:

Mobile

Companies:

ETSI,  ITU,  IFT

Countries:

Mexico

Tags:

Voice services, Data services, Messaging, Launch, Wireless, Wholesale, Handsets

Related Articles

MEXICO 12 JUL 2018

Mexican fixed broadband lines up 9% in Q1

Mexico had 17.6 million fixed broadband lines at the end of March 2018, up 9 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT). A 23 percent rise in fibre connections and a 19 percent increase in cable accesses offset a 2 percent fall in DSL lines, said the watchdog, adding that fixed broadband penetration climbed to 52 percent of households from 49 percent a year earlier. However, the total number of fixed telephone lines declined 2.4 percent in the quarter

MEXICO 18 JUN 2018

Mexican mobile broadband lines top 82 mln

Mexico had 82.2 million mobile broadband lines at the end of 2017, the figure having increased at an average rate of nearly 80 percent a year from 1.4 million connections in June 2010, according to a report from the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT). Mobile broadband penetration has surged from 1 percent of the population in 2010 to 66 percent at the end of December, said the report, which attributes the rise to an increasingly competitive market prompted above all by the country's 2013 telecom ref

MEXICO 22 MRT 2018

Mexico switches on Red Compartida wholesale network in a third of country

Mexico's Promoting Body of Investment in Telecommunications (Promtel) has announced that the country's 'Red Compartida' wholesale 4G shared network has finally gone live on the 700MHz band some 10 days ahead of schedule. The network initially covers some 32.2 percent of the country's population, including large parts of Aguascalientes, Celaya, Colima, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Morelia, Puebla, Queretaro, Tepic, Toluca and Mexico City, as well as 29 of the country's 111 "Pueblos Magicos" tourist destinations.

MEXICO 31 JAN 2018

Mexico's Altan Redes told to amend wholesale reference offer

Mexicos telecom regulator IFT has ordered the Altan Redes consortium that's rolling out the country's 4G shared network (Red Compartida) to amend the reference interconnection offer to "give certainty about the terms and conditions under which wholesale telecommunications services are provided". The watchdog said the proposal submitted by Altan on 19 December needs to be modified to comply with the current regulatory framework and the provisions of the concession. The consortium has 10 working days to submi

MEXICO 29 JAN 2018

Samsung tops Mexican smartphone market with 34.6% share in Q3

Sales of smartphones in Mexico soared to 96.8 million in the third quarter of 2017, up from 90.7 million at the end of 2016 and 77.3 million at the end of 2015, according to final data released by The Competitive Intelligence Unit (CIU). The country's smartphone penetration reached 85.8 percent of mobile lines at the end of September, some 14.8 percent higher than the year-earlier quarter, with Samsung continuing to dominate the sector with 34.6 percent of sales, up 0.6 percent compared to Q2.

MEXICO 26 JAN 2018

Mexico's Red Compartida hits 30% coverage ahead of target

Mexico's wholesale 4G shared network (Red Compartida) has reached its initial coverage target of 30 percent of the country's population over 2 months ahead of the 31 March 2018 deadline, reports El Economista, citing Altan Redes CEO Bernardo Sepulveda. The Altan consortium was awarded the 20-year concession to build and run the network last year and has already installed a total of 2,500 towers and reached 36 of the country's leading tourist destinations and 7.8 million people in towns of less than 10,000 i

MEXICO 9 JAN 2018

Just 22% of Mexican phones ready for 700 MHz band

Barely 22.2 percent of Mexico's smartphones are currently able to support the 700 MHz band to be used for the country's new wholesale shared network (Red Compartida), according to a report by The Competitive Intelligence Unit (CIU) cited by Mexican daily Cronica. The figure is equivalent to 21.3 million devices, with the country's remaining 74.6 million smartphones unsuited to the 700 MHz band.

MEXICO 15 DEC 2017

Mexico's Red Compartida to exceed initial coverage target

Mexico's wholesale 4G shared network (Red Compartida) is set to exceed its initial coverage target of 30 percent of the country's population by 31 March 2018, reaching between 33 and 35 percent, reports El Economista, citing the country's undersecretary of communications Edgar Olvera. The Altan consortium was awarded the 20-year concession to build and run the network last year, and the group is committed to covering 30 percent of the population by the end of Q1 2018 and 92 percent by 2023. Altan will have

MEXICO 13 DEC 2017

Mexico's IFT proposes setting minimum internet speeds

Mexico's Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) is the latest regulator to consider setting minimum internet download speeds for the country's broadband market. Under the terms of a draft proposal seen by local daily El Universal, the IFT wants to require operators to deliver minimum mobile broadband speeds of 4Mbps in 2018, rising to 10Mbps in 2020, with fixed download speeds set at 10Mbps next year, increasing to 25Mbps in 2020. Interested parties have until 19 February 2018 to submit their opinions o

MEXICO 27 NOV 2017

Mexico approves uniform 10-digit dialling from 2019

A plenary session of Mexico's telecommunications watchdog IFT has approved plans announced over a year ago to simplify dialling by removing 01, 044, 045 and 1 prefixes and enforcing a standard 10-digit number for both fixed and mobile lines. The aim is to eliminate the time-consuming and error-prone process of having to add different prefixes for domestic long distance and international calls. The necessary changes in networks will take a while to implement, however, with the regulator setting a deadline of

MEXICO 10 OKT 2017

Mexican 2.5GHz band tender to begin 'in coming weeks'

Mexico's Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) has confirmed in a statement that it will launch the process to auction spectrum in the 2.5GHz frequency band "in the coming weeks". In the end, a total of 120MHz of spectrum will be auctioned off in the 2500MHz-2690MHz band, divided into six national 20MHz blocks in 20-year concessions. The minimum value of each block will be MXN 350 million and a further 10MHz will be reserved as "guard band" spectrum.

MEXICO 1 SEP 2017

Mexico telecom reform leads to plunging prices - OECD

Mexico's 2013 telecom reform has brought tangible benefits to the country, boosting competition that has increased access and sharply bringing costs from among the highest in advanced economies to among the lowest, according to a report from the OECD. In fact, prices for mobile internet now stand below the OECD country average with the cost of a low-usage mobile broadband basket of 100 calls and 500 Mbps falling by 65 percent from USD 44.05 PPP (at purchasing power parity) to USD 15.39 PPP, while the price

MEXICO 29 AUG 2017

Mexico to launch tender for trunking services in 440-450MHz band

Mexican telecommunications regulator IFT has issued a call for expressions of interest in a total of 21 blocks in the 440-450MHz band for trunking services all over the country. Three of the blocks are national while the remaining 18 are regional, equivalent to two per Mexican region, said the IFT, adding that it's seeking to raise the minimum reference value of MXN 2.49 million from the tender.

MEXICO 2 AUG 2017

Mexico's 4G shared network to begin tests this year

Mexico's wholesale 4G shared network (Red Compartida) will initiate its first tests before the end of the year, reports local daily Reforma, citing Fernando Borjon, Director General of the Promoting Body of Investment in Telecommunications (Promtel). The Altan consortium was awarded the 20-year concession to build and run the network last November, and the group is committed to covering 30 percent of the population by 31 March 2018 and 92 percent by 2023. Borjon said Nokia has already begun carrying out off

MEXICO 18 MEI 2017

Altan to submit Mexico shared network offer by March 2018

Altan Redes, the consortium entrusted with building and running Mexico's wholesale 4G shared network (Red Compartida), has until the end of March next year to submit details of all services included in its commercial offer, reports El Universal, citing Fernando Borjon, Director General of the Promoting Body of Investment in Telecommunications (Promtel). Under the terms of the public-private partnership, mobile operators will be able to rent space on the 4G network in exchange for cheap use of high quality s

Just In

19 DEC 16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

19 DEC 16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

19 DEC 15:56

UK govt to ban AI-enabled nudification apps to protect women, girls

19 DEC 15:42

3 UK launches last-minute Christmas sale

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.