One of Mexico’s largest operators is deploying an LTE network across the country. Using equipment from Swedish vendor Ericsson, America Movil subsidiary Telcel’s network already covers nine cities - Mexico City, Ciudad Juarez, Hermosillo, Guadalajara, Merida, Monterrey, Puebla, Queretaro and Tijuana - and the operator aims to bolster this over the next few months.
To provide the highest standard of coverage, the operator will deploy LTE in two spectrum bands – 1900MHz and 2100MHz. Ericsson’s contract also stipulates provision of its Evolved Packet Core with Home Subscriber Server, allowing for more efficient user data management.
By the end of the year, the operator is expected to have over 100,000 LTE subscribers. Currently the service is only available to post paid users, but prepaid users will soon have access to them. There are six LTE-compatible handsets available in the country – soon to be seven, with the iPhone 5 launching in January 2013.
