AT&T to bring 4G LTE to 40mn POPs in Mexico before year-end

US operator AT&T plans to bring 4G LTE to 40mn points of presence (POPs) in Mexico before the end of the year.

The US$3bn that the company recently announced in investments will be partly channeled to expanding the 4G LTE network, CFO John Stevens said during a conference call on 2Q15 financial results.

"Our plan is to reach 100mn POPs by 2018," Stevens said.

The projections for expansion in Mexico are part of a plan to have a footprint of 400mn POPs across North America.

AT&T reported revenues of US$33bn in 2Q15, up 1.4% year-on-year. Operating costs reached US$27.3bn, up slightly from US$27bn last year, and operating income totaled US$5.7bn, rising from US$5.6bn in 2Q14.

The reason behind the company's modest growth is the expenses it assumed due to the acquisitions of Nextel and Iusacell earlier this year, which set the company back a combined US$4.4bn, as well as expenses from the yet-to-be closed DirecTV deal.

"These results reaffirm our transformation strategy," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. "We added more than 2mn new wireless subscribers as the repositioning of our smartphone base nears completion. We also began expanding high-quality, high-speed wireless services to Mexican consumers and businesses.

"This is a pivotal time for us. We look forward to closing the DirecTV deal and building on this momentum by delivering a new TV everywhere experience integrated with mobile and high-speed Internet service," he added.