Mexican regulator IFT was initially expecting to award 5G spectrum this month
The Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), Mexico’s telecoms regulator, has announced the cancellation of its planned 5G spectrum auction, originally scheduled for this month.
In a statement, the IFT said it had received a formal request on January 2 from the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency, the federal entity overseeing Mexico’s telecoms and broadcasting policies, to halt the auction process to award additional frequencies for mobile services.
The agency explained that the cancellation was necessary due to a lack of sufficient resources to carry out the tender under the terms previously established by the IFT.
The decision is also linked to the planned dissolution of the IFT, which is expected to take place before the tender process concludes in the first quarter of 2026. This situation would have required a new regulatory body to assume responsibility for the auction, adding complexity to the process, the regulator said.
The agency also emphasized that the move to cancel the spectrum auction aims to avoid potential complications and uncertainties that could arise during the transition period.
The IFT-12 tender was expected to allocate 2,223 blocks of radio spectrum across several frequency bands, including the 600MHz band, the L-band, the 800MHz band, the AWS band, the PCS band and the 2.5GHz band.
Mexican operators AT&T Mexico and Telcel, owned by America Movil have already deployed 5G infrastructure across Mexico. Telcel initially launched its commercial 5G network in February 2022 in 18 of Mexico’s largest cities, using infrastructure from Ericsson and Huawei.
AT&T Mexico is offering its 5G services in various cities across the country. The operator’s 5G services are active in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana, Mexicali, Ciudad Juárez, Mazatlan, Ciudad Obregon, Navojoa, Guasave, Ensenada, Puerto Penasco Guamuchil, Hemosillo, Culiacan, Saltillo, Torreon and Morelia, among other cities.
Movistar is using AT&T’s network infrastructure for the provision of 5G in Mexico.
