Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) has disclosed plans to stage a consultation regarding its long-awaited 5G spectrum auction next month. Speaking to El Economista, Alejandro Navarrete Torres, Director of the IFT’s Radioelectric Spectrum Unit, noted that the watchdog is keen to auction airwaves in the 600MHz, 850MHz and 3.5GHz bands, while the 1.5GHz L-band is still under consideration.
The official continued: ‘None of the [previous] proposals were taken into account, and that is why we are working on another bidding scheme that allows a lot of flexibility, so that all possible interested parties can participate, not just the two usual big network companies, because there are other very small ones that are also providing services. Other operators have expressed their interest in the spectrum, but they cannot obtain large blocks of spectrum in large geographic areas, due to the level of payment.’
Mr Navarrete Torres expects the new consultation document to be published in late-January.
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