Mexican government says rules for 1700MHz and 1900MHz auction due by early September

Mexican communications and transport minister Juan Molinar has revealed that the government plans to auction new mobile frequencies later this year in the 1700MHz and 1900MHz bands, Reuters reports. The minister also announced that the rules for the sale are likely to be published by early September at the latest, although they could be ready before the end of this month. The move comes as the government looks to boost competition in the Mexican wireless sector, which is currently dominated by America Movil-owned Telcel. It is thought that Telefonica will be one of those operators keen to increase its spectrum, having complained in the past that it did not have sufficient spectrum to launch 3G services; despite its claims it did launch commercial 3G packages in November 2008, although a lack of spectrum in the capital means that such services are limited there. The auction of the spectrum in the 1700MHz band is designed to promote the entry of at least one mobile network operator, with likely candidates including broadcaster Televisa.