Telefónica México and AT&T extend last-mile network contract to 2030

Telefónica México and AT&T announced the extension of their access network capacity contract until 2030.

The agreement, signed in 2019, allows Telefónica to use AT&T's 3G, 4G and 5G networks for its mobile services.

Telefónica, which also has an agreement with Altán Redes, no longer operates access networks in Mexico and only uses third-party infrastructure.

The gradual migration of traffic to the AT&T network began in 2020 and the 5G network was included in 2022.

With this extension of the agreement, the two companies will continue to operate independently, maintaining respective control over their transportation and core networks, as well as their assets, management platforms, strategy, commercial offerings and users.

According to a network coverage map of Mexico created by regulator IFT, AT&T's 4G LTE network is the most powerful in Mexico City, Puebla, León, Guadalajara, Veracruz, Cancún, Monterrey, San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Acapulco and in the US border cities of El Paso, Mexicali and Tijuana, among others.

Telcel has much broader penetration throughout the country, covering, for example, areas in the Gulf of California, central Mexico and Tabasco state, in addition to the cities covered by AT&T.

Altán's wholesale network, meanwhile, has greater penetration in smaller towns and rural areas.

According to data from the regulator, Telcel dominates the mobile market with 59.1% of lines (82.5mn), followed by Telefónica with 16.0% (22.2mn) and AT&T with 15.3% (21.2mn). The rest of the market is divided among virtual mobile operators.

As of end-March, AT&T reported having 22.4mn lines in Mexico, while Telcel had 83.4mn. Telefónica has not yet issued results for the first quarter of the year.