Mexico’s America Movil Plans 5G, Pay TV Launches

Mexican telecoms giant America Movil plans to roll out 5G for 90% of the countries where it operates, Reuters reported Wednesday (Feb. 9).

Despite setbacks from the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), Mexico’s telecom regulator, the company is “optimistic” about pay TV in the country.

Regarding 5G services, America Movil CEO Daniel Hajj Aboumrad said on a call with investors that he doesn’t “have a specific date, but … I hope we can do it in the first semester of this year.”

The company doesn’t have spectrum for 5G in Colombia yet, but Aboumrad has said the company hopes the country will speed up the 5G access.

America Movil is controlled by the family of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and operates in 10 countries, primarily in Latin America. The company said on Tuesday (Feb. 8) that the net profit from its fourth quarter had more than tripled from a year ago.

The IFT finished a vote in January without authorizing a new TV license for America Movil. The prospect of that had frightened competitors, and while executives said they felt good about the application’s success, there was no new timing for an IFT vote.

“It is clear that competition would serve well to consumers and to the sector, and we believe that Claro and America Movil is a clear alternative, so this will have to be determined by the IFT, and we expect hopefully some positive news on that front,” an America Movil executive said.

PYMNTS wrote that digital payments have become more ubiquitous in Latin America, with the pandemic making it so more customers are heading online for things like entertainment.

See also: Streaming Platforms Use Digital Payments to Gain Foothold in LatAm

There have been more consumers using subscription-based services, which have increased 32% as of the first few months of the pandemic.

The digital subscription markets have become more saturated, and big players like Netflix have had to find new ways to capture and retain new subscribers, including new media and support for new payment needs.