Iusacell becomes second operator to bid for dark fibre (Mexico)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mexican mobile network operator Iusacell has expressed an official interest in the government’s upcoming auction for access to two of state-owned power firm Comision Federal de Electridad’s (CFE’s) dark fibre strands. This has made the company, the second mobile operator to announce an official interest in the auction.
Earlier, it was reported that an auction will be conducted by Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) on behalf of CFE, and the fibre links, which span some 21,208km, have been split into three sections: Pacific, Centre and Gulf.
Till April 5 which was the deadline, only one other bid was received by the SCT, the country’s telecoms regulator. The interested bid came as a joint offer by local broadcast giant Televisa, Telefonica of Spain and cableco Megacable.
On June 9, the licenses granting access to the fibre strand with a validity of 20-year period will be awarded to the telcos.
Telefonica mulling tie up with Mexican telcos and cablecos
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With a view to bid on access to the fibre-optic infrastructure being auctioned by the government on behalf of state power utility Comision Federal de Electridad, tie up with a number of smaller Mexican telcos and cablecos is considered by Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica.
Access to two unused portions of its fibre-optic network which covers around 20,000km will also be auctioned by CFE. Under the preliminary rules announced by the Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT), the fibre strands will be divided into three geographic regions.
After the announcement of an expected joint bid with Telefonica by the executives at Megacable last month, Francisco Gil, head of Telefonica in Mexico pointed towards a possible tie up and as a result, formation of a consortium.
SCT modifies mobile licence concessions (Mexico)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The Mexican telecoms regulator, the Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT), has reportedly modified the licences held by the telcos Movistar and Nextel. According to the regulator, the modification will increase competition in the wireless segment.
Under the changes Nextel will be allowed to offer traditional mobile voice services, and it will make an initial payment of MXN11.3 million (USD870,000) for the updated licence terms, plus a further MXN79 million fee per year. Movistar, meanwhile, will be permitted to offer trunking services.
SCT has also modified Iusacell’s licence in Regions One and Four, allowing the company to offer data services, trunking and videoconferencing. On the other hand the authorities also confiscated 25MHz from Iusacell in the 100MHz and 400MHz bands Region Nine, which includes Mexico City; the regulator claims that Iusacell was not making efficient use of the spectrum. In addition, Iusacell will be expected to pay MNX894 million for a 15-year extension of its concession contract that expired in April 2007.
