Spanish wireless carrier Telefonica SA said it is open to exploring agreements with rival carriers – including U.S. carrier giant AT&T – in order to expand its network in Mexico and foster growth, Bloomberg Business reported Wednesday.
According to the report, potential deals could include sharing networks with AT&T, accessing America Movil SAB’s tower infrastructure and the combined creation of infrastructure.
The move comes as Telefonica has looked to increase growth in Latin America, particularly in Mexico, to compete with fierce competition from AT&T and America Movil.
Telefonica COO Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete said growth in the country would be impossible without a strong network, and said the company would seek to make further investments and agreements to bolster its position.
Last November, AT&T made a major move into the Mexican carrier space with its$2.5 billion acquisition of Mexico wireless provider Iusacell. The purchase netted AT&T Iusacell’s licenses, network assets, retail stores as well as its approximately 8.6 million subscribers.
The carrier followed up with the acquisition of Nextel Mexico in May of this year and in June announced plans invest $3 billion to expand its network in Mexico to cover 100 million people by the end of 2018.
Last week, AT&T also announced the start of its new rebranding effort south of the border, including the process of renaming stores in Mexico and repackaging its offerings for sale there. The process is expected to take until the end of 2016 to complete.
Source: http://www.wirelessweek.com/news/2015/09/telefonica-open-deals-t-america-movil-mexico