The Mexican communications ministry has delayed the tender process for the country’s shared network.
Having originally released terms for the bidding on 29 January, the ministry has cited the time required to deal with “the number and complexity of queries and requests for clarification submitted by the contestants” as the cause for the delay.
The Secretariat of Communications and Transport has postponed a meeting intended to provide responses to these inquiries. Originally scheduled for 22 March, it has now been delayed to 6 April – in turn, this has shifted the deadline for proposals by a month, sliding from 8 August to 8 September.
The winning bidders will now be announced on 28 September rather than the originally scheduled 24 August. Participants must have assets worth at least $890 million as well as a clear projected 10-year plan. Firms known to be interested include Alestra, Cisco/Ericsson, China Telecom, Huawei, Motorola Solutions and Nokia.
The shared network will use 700MHz spectrum that has become free following Mexico’s digital switchover, which concluded in December 2015.
