The LTE journey has begun in Mexico. Telefónica’s Movistar brand has begun deploying LTE across the country, with initial launch plans to cover the areas of Polanco, Ciudad de México; Zapopan, Jalisco; and San Pedro, Nuevo León. The announcement was made by Juan Antonio Abellán, CEO of Telefónica Mexico, during a press conference held in the country.

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Movistar said the first LTE cellsites have already been deployed, demonstrating the company’s commitment. The LTE network is expected to provide mobile data speeds up to 10-times faster than HSPA+ technology.

Movistar expects 2013 to be a growth year while 2014 might be a year when LTE should be more mature and expansion might begin. “We aim Telefónica to lead, making Mexico pioneers in the digital era,” Abellán said.

During the announcement, Movistar also unveiled it was working to expand mobile coverage across subway systems in the country. Abellán said that Telefónica’s growth strategy is to cover the 108 kilometers of tunnels in the public subway in the Federal District, adding that the service would be available beginning next month.