AT&T expects its 5G network infrastructure to reach 25 new cities across Mexico before the end of 2022
AT&T Mexico launched 5G services in five new cities across the country, the telco said in a release.
The carrier now offers its 5G technology in parts of Morelia, Saltillo, Torreón, Hermosillo and Culiacán, which adds to Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, where the telco launched the technology earlier this year.
The operator said it expects its 5G network infrastructure to reach 25 new cities across Mexico before the end of 2022.
AT&T had initially launched 5G services in Mexico in December last year, using spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band. The initial coverage of AT&T’s 5G network was limited to the Cuauhtémoc and the Napoles districts in Mexico City.
With the aim of contributing to the development of a 5G ecosystem that accelerates the use cases that require this new mobile technology, AT&T Mexico said it has already opened a 5G Innovation Laboratory, a space designed to test and validate 5G use cases with collaborators, industry and customers.
AT&T Mexico also said it will work in collaboration with industry, government, universities, startups and large corporations, in the realization of prototypes that use 5G technology to improve business models.
AT&T Mexico ended the second quarter of the year with 20.7 million customers in the country, up 8.7% year-on-year. The telco’s overall revenues in Q2 reached $808 million, up 10.7% compared to the same period the previous year.
Earlier this yaer, Mexican operator Movistar, owned by Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica, said it was considering a launch of 5G in Mexico via a network sharing agreement with AT&T.
Camilo Aya, CEO of Telefónica Movistar México, highlighted that one of the advantages of sharing infrastructure with AT&T was that once the latter company launched these services, Telefónica will be able to do so simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Mexican telecom group America Movil’s 5G network currently reaches 40 cities across the country, the company’s CEO Daniel Hajj recently said during a conference call with investors. The executive said that they are seeing a solid migration of users from 4G to 5G, which is increasing the telco’s Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).
Hajj also said that America Movil expects to reach the main cities in Mexico with 5G by the end of this year.
American Movil’s COO Oscar Von Hauske previously said that the telco aims to have nearly 100 Mexican cities covered with 5G technology by the end of this year.
Earlier this year, Mexican telecommunications regulator IFT had confirmed that the 5G spectrum auction for mobile services will take place during 2022.
The 5G auction was included in the watchdog’s 2022 work plan, which outlines the bidding process for spectrum blocks in the 600 MHz, 3.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands, as well as the L band.
