MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil said on Monday that its wireless subsidiary had agreed to buy spectrum for mobile devices from Mexico's Grupo MVS, which would increase Mexico's dominant player's offer of high-speed data services.
America Movil said it would buy 60 MHz of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band. It did not disclose the terms of the deal, which is subject to regulatory conditions. An MVS spokesperson said the company did not have a comment.
Jose Otero, director for Latin America at telecoms trade association 5G Americas, said the deal would pressure regulators to define plans to auction of 130 MHz of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band that allows for faster download speeds.
Mexico's telecoms regulator in August postponed an auction of 2.5 GHz spectrum, saying wanted more time to decide how many blocks it would tender and under what conditions.
Earlier this month, Mexico declared a Chinese-backed group the winner of a tender to build and run what will be a multi-billion dollar wholesale mobile network that is designed to increase services offered in Latin America's No. 2 economy. [nL1N1DI1E3]
Otero said that the new wholesale operator, whose top shareholders are Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Infrastructure, part of Morgan Stanley, and a Chinese-Mexican government fund, could become a bidder in any spectrum auctions.