Mexico. AT&T completed the acquisition of the company operating under the name Nextel de Mexico, a subsidiary of NII Holdings, Inc., including spectrum licenses, network assets, stores and approximately 3 million subscribers, for $1.875 billion, less approximately $427 million of net debt and other adjustments.
Earlier this year, AT&T acquired Mexican wireless carrier Iusacell. AT&T will integrate Iusacell and Nextel to form a company focused on generating greater choice, better wireless service, and high-speed mobile Internet to more locations in Mexico. AT&T plans to create North America's first wireless service area, which will cover more than 400 million consumers and businesses in Mexico and the United States.
Thaddeus Arroyo, Managing Director of AT&T Mexico, LLC and Iusacell, will be the leader of the companies as a whole.
"We are very excited to be able to work to offer the next generation of mobile internet, which will offer a new standard of customer service and more competition in the telecommunications sector in Mexico. We have ambitious expansion plans. We are focused on becoming the leader of the mobile phone market in Mexico, building a world-class network and improving the customer experience when using our services," said Arroyo.
AT&T's acquisition of Nextel from Mexico was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which is overseeing the restructuring of NII Holdings. It was also approved by the Mexican telecommunications regulator, the Federal Institute of Telecommunications. The IFT's prompt action, driven by recent Mexican government reforms, created a positive environment for AT&T to invest significantly in Mexico.
"Good policies promote new investment decisions. The Mexican government – under the leadership of President Enrique Peña Nieto – has taken key steps on fiscal and economic issues, and the new regulatory reforms create a good platform for investment in digital infrastructure," Arroyo added.
AT&T has the most reliable 4G LTE network in the United States, with the strongest LTE signal of any U.S. provider, and the company aims to provide that same level of service in Mexico. In the same way, it is planning to carry out large investments over the next few years to introduce the new generation of high-speed mobile Internet to millions of Mexican customers and businesses.
