TE and 4iG to Construct New Subsea Cable

Telecomm to Relaunch Fiber Network Tender in February 2019.

Mexican telecommunications provider, Telecomm will relaunch the country’s ambitious but delayed tendering process to deploy fiber-optic networks nationwide. Mexico’s National fiber-optic project known as “Red Troncal” was planned for last year October, but due to delayed process, postponed to relaunch in early 2019.

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced the relaunching plans to the media persons in Mexico this week. The Red Troncal project was conceptualized in 2013 during the term of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s mandate.

Mexico’s National fiber-optic backbone network popularly known as the Red Troncal is a project where Telecomm has responsibilities to plan, design and execute the construction and growth of a high capacity fiber optic national data transport network. The Red Troncal aims to support the development of broadband telecommunications services to regional concessionaires and licensed resellers.

The licensed resellers in Mexico require higher bandwidth feeder section coming to their local transmission points. They need it to provide a wider assortment of broadband access services. Red Troncal project also aims to promote competition in locations served by only one fiber optic operator and to promote services in locations that are unserved.

During the meeting, the President told that the Mexican Government is looking for a network that is equally distributed and beneficial to both urban and rural mass. The Government doesn’t discriminate the people living in rural areas where the private network owners usually hesitate to enter due to monetary concerns. He further added that his Government guarantee communication to all Mexicans, which is a right.

The new tender will be reviewed thoroughly from scratch and will ensure participation of high technology, high-quality suppliers. The tender evaluation would be stringent and the selection process would be fair.

The planned network extends over 25,600 km between towers, poles, and facilities, all belonging to state-owned Federal Electricity Commission, which has already reached in agreement with Telecomm. Telecomm introduces a public-private partnership model for the network operation, where it is estimated that a private partner should invest about US$200 million.

Mexico’s communication services market vibrant, dynamic and are one of the largest markets in Latin America. After liberalization of the domestic telecom market in the 1990s, the incumbent operator, Teléfonos de México (Telmex), was privatized. Telecom industry is still dominated by Telmex and América Móvil. Telmex diversified its operations by starting Internet service and mobile telephony. Also, it expanded its operations to Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, and the United States.

Recently reported revenues by major telecommunication service providers in Mexico;
America Movil: 133.73 billion Pesos
Grupo Televisa: 26.63 billion Pesos
AT&T: 20.14 billion Pesos
Telefonica: 14.86 billion Pesos
Megacable: 8.08 billion Pesos