AT&T plans to combine Nextel Mexico with Iusacell to form large Mexico operator
AT&T completed its $1.875 billion acquisition of Nextel Mexico, bolstering its presence in the Mexican market.
The deal includes companies operating under the name Nextel Mexico and holding all of NII Holdings wireless properties in Mexico, including spectrum licenses, network assets, retail stores and approximately 3 million subscribers. Nextel Mexico’s network covers approximately 76 million people, with the carrier said to control 25 megahertz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band, 30 megahertz in the 1.7/2.1 GHz band and “some” IDEN/SMR spectrum.
AT&T purchased the assets from NII as part of a bankruptcy settlement approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which is overseeing NII’s restructuring.
The deal garnered approval from Mexico’s telecom regulator Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, which also provided swift approval of AT&T’s $2.5 billion purchase of Iusacell, which closed just days before the Nextel Mexico deal was announced. AT&T said it plans to combine those operations into one unit “focused on bringing more choices, better service and faster mobile Internet speeds to more locations throughout Mexico.”
Tasked with fulfilling that mission is Thaddeus Arroyo, who was previously named CEO of Iusacell, and will now lead the combined operations. Arroyo is a 19-year AT&T veteran, having previously served as president of AT&T technology development.
AT&T reiterated its plans to offer up what it called the first-ever North American mobile service area tapping into its own U.S.-based network and Iusacell’s footprint. AT&T said the combined networks would cover more than 400 million potential customers.
Analysts had noted that the combined operations would control more than 70 megahertz of nationwide spectrum with 90 megahertz in some markets. Neither carrier currently offers LTE services, but AT&T said it plans to invest in bolstering the combined networks without specifically stating plans for LTE.
To help gain regulatory approval in Latin America, AT&T sold off its small interest in América Móvil, which operates across a number of Latin American countries and also owns domestic wireless reseller TracFone Wireless.
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