Mexican telecoms regulator Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Ifetel) has announced plans to auction Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum in January 2016 ‘for the deployment of 4G … throughout the national territory’. The auction will comprise 30MHz of AWS-1 airwaves (1710MHz-1725MHz/2110MHz-2125MHz) alongside a 50MHz block of AWS-3 spectrum (1755MHz-1780MHz/2155MHz-2180MHz). The process will be open to existing mobile operators, as well as ‘potential new operators wishing to deploy a wireless network in Mexico’.
According to Ifetel’s provisional timeline, public opinions on the tender are welcomed until 16 October, while interested parties will have to declare whether they want to participate in the process by November. The process will adhere to a Combinatorial Clock Auction (CCA) format, which the watchdog hopes will lead to a more efficient distribution of spectrum; that type of auction has previously been utilised in markets such as Austria, Canada and Ireland.