Mexico expects to free 600MHz band by Q1

Mexico expects to finish freeing its 600MHz spectrum currently in use for TV by the first quarter of 2019, opening the door to repurpose the band for 5G high-speed wireless broadband, the telecoms regulator IFT said in a statement.

The country announced in March that it was moving forward with the migration of the 48 TV stations still using the frequency, following the reassignment of 700MHz in 2015, which opened that band for the launch of the wholesale Red Compartida project. The decision also finally completes the country's analogue switch-off.

By the date of the final migration, IFT added, "it is expected that the standards for operating 5G networks would be ready and that there would be enough devices supporting the technology."

Mexico will be the first country in the world to free up the spectrum, which covers the 614-698MHz band. It will make 84MHz in the band available for the new technology, which according to IFT will allow for speeds up to 100 times faster than the current 4G standard.

Several other countries, including the US, Canada and New Zealand, have identified the 600MHz band as a candidate for offering 5G services.