Telcel’s Mexican 5G network reaches 125 cities, 10mn users

América Móvil’s Mexican mobile carrier Telcel reached 125 cities with its 5G network, with over 10mn users able to connect to it. 

The update was provided via a social media post from the deputy communications and government relations director at América Móvil, Renato Flores Cartas.

Telcel is Mexico’s leading mobile carrier, with 83.4mn users as of end-September, 68.6mn of which were prepaid. 

“In addition to providing the highest upload and download speeds, Telcel's 5G network is the most efficient in its operation since it has a system that allows for energy savings, as well as balancing its capacity according to user demand,” said Flores.

Telcel commercially activated its 5G network in February 2022, relying on Ericsson and Huawei as providers.

The 5G standard it uses is non-standalone (NSA), which relies on existing 4G infrastructure with new frequencies to deliver the service.

5G SA, which is the standalone version and considered the “pure 5G”, involves the deployment of both new network infrastructure and frequencies.

Overall, Telcel has an estimated 58% share of the mobile market, followed by Telefónica’s Movistar (18%), AT&T México (15%) and MVNOs (9%).

Mexico is planning to hold a spectrum auction this year to award 5G 600MHz and 3.5GHz bands. América Móvil may not show strong interest in the auction as Telcel is estimated to have around 47% of the country’s spectrum available for mobile services.