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Development of The New Mobile Broadband Network in Mexico in The 2.5 GHZ Band Highlights of The Proposal
Development of The New Mobile Broadband Network in Mexico in The 2.5 GHZ Band Highlights of The Proposal
5 GHz band
Highlights of the proposal
• Deployment of a new broadband network using the 2.5 GHz spectrum, capable of competing
effectively with existing set of the incumbents, the telephony market as well as the broadband
services market.
• Establishment of specific coverage milestones and ambitious plan that covers both urban and
rural areas.
• Ensure that this network should be open to allow users to access any kind of content
application, service or devices, according to open standards and specifications; while offering
telephony independently of broadband services.
• Alignment of incentives in order to balance the public policy goal of extending coverage to
underserved areas, but also keeping in mind the financial viability of the project. Government
participation but also contribute to the attainment of these goals.
I. Diagnosis: where we are
• According to the World Bank, of all telecommunication services, broadband stands as the most
important contributor to economic growth.
• Even as in the last year, fixed networks in Mexico have evolved favorably in the development of
new broadband services, that is a long way for Mexico to catch up with other countries.
• There’s a high concentration in the broadband market in Mexico –Telmex has 72% of market
participation, while cable companies hold 21%.
• Most of Mexico’s population has access to atmost one broadband vendor.
• In other countries, authorities have fostered competition in the provision of broadband services
by means of policies which allow leasing of last‐mile infrastructure (last‐mile unbundling) to
make up for the lack of competition.
• An accelerated surge in the demand of data/bandwidth generated by the users of smart phones
and computers has started to limit the capacity of the existing mobile wireless networks.
• In Mexico 170 MHz have been allocated to mobile services. This number will reach the 300 MHz
if the upcoming spectrum auctions take place; however, that amount may not be enough to
meet the expected bandwidth demand.
• According to the ITU, in order to meet demand for mobile broadband services in the year 2010,
countries will need over 760 MHz of spectrum.
• In summary, the current business model of cellular networks:
9 Limit access to services contents and applications on the Internet (access is limited for
Skype, YouTube, etc.).
9 Cellular operators can block terminal devices, which can then no longer operate in other
networks.
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• The national development plan established a goal of 22% of penetration broadband by the year
2012.
• However, under the current trend of broadband penetration, that goal will not be able to be
attained (as 16% penetration is estimated to be reached in 2012, if the current trend persists).
Alternatives
• There is a last generation wireless technology called WiMAX which makes possible the delivery
of mobile broadband at a very competitive cost, compared to fixed networks.
• The next evolution of cellular networks for the delivery of broadband services will be available
until 2012 (40, also named long‐term evolution).
• The significant advantage of wireless technologies is that the cost and timing of the deployment
is much less than in the case of fixed networks, which allows for a greater coverage.
• There are various alternatives of frequency bands for the development of the network:
o The 700 MHz band for both voice and data, which is ideal for mobile services of fourth‐
generation (4G) allows for the interview operators, as well as its allows incumbent operators
to have more spectrum to satisfy the growing demand for data.
o The 1.7 and 2.1 GHz (also been nominated AWS or advanced wireless services), for voice
and data, which can also be used for the delivery of mobile services of third and fourth
generation (3G and 4G) either by new operators or incumbents, 90 MHz of the total 120
MHz available in this band will be auctioned in the first half of 2010.
o The 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz for mobile broadband services are ideal for the new generation of
networks. In this case, voice services are in fact data services, always running on the
Internet IP protocol.
o 3.5 GHz band is for fixed voice and data services and is ideal for the next generation of
wireless networks that compete with incumbent fixed networks. The auctions program, is
approved by the SCT, designates a total amount of 150 MHz for auction.
• We conclude that the most viable model in the short run, within the course of the current
presidential administration, to deploy a nationwide mobile broadband network, is found in the
expectation of the 2.5 GHz band using WiMAX technology ‐‐ is this evidence through the
deployment of numerous WiMAX networks across the globe over the last two years. The main
advantages of his band for the deployment of the network are:
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o It has been already assigned the United States and Canada for the deployment of mobile
broadband networks, therefore
‐There could be agreements between the countries for roaming services
‐There could be significant economies of scale which these countries could take
advantage of in the production of equipment and devices, and allowing Mexico to
produce or purchase these at a lower‐cost.
o It is already licensed, which means that it would not require an auction process that could
take years.
o It has sufficient spectrum (190 MHz) for the development of mobile broadband services.
II. Proposal: Development of a New Broadband Network in the 2.5 GHz Band.
Proposal pillars:
• The four pillars for these proposal are
1. Competition
2. Coverage
3. Open Network
4. Government Participation in the Project
1. Competition
• The new network must be able to complete with incumbent mobile operators. It is therefore
fundamental to avoid that incumbent can participate in the operation and financing of the new
network.
• If the spectrum licensed to existing mobile operators it may be possible that these may seek to
block the deployment, in order to delay the entry of new competitors.
2. Coverage
• For the deployment of a new broadband network, specific coverage commitments ought to be
established through location selection criteria that the license holder should comply with, as
part of the licenses´ terms and conditions.
• Under the current licensing scheme for telecommunications networks in Mexico, with respect to
coverage obligations, it is customary to contemplate a percentage of the population in specific
localities. As these are generic obligations, they generate incentives for the coverage of only the
most densely populated localities, to the disadvantage of underserved‐ rural communities.
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3. Open Network
• The networks will allow users unrestricted access to any kind of content application or service
that may be available through the network. That is, third parties should be able to deliver
services or applications to the users of the network through their contracted service package.
• The network should allow users to connect to any kind of equipment or device that does not
represent a hazard to the network.
• Subscription to broadband access should be independent of the telephony service.
• Patents associated to the equipment and technologies used by the network should be made
available to third parties in a predictable manner.
4. Government Participation
• It is proposed that the government considers charging the applicable fee for spectrum usage by
means of a temporary equity participation in the consortium that will be in charge of the
deployment of network.
• The participation of the government would allow to
9 Guaranteeing the fulfillment of coverage commitments
9 Making financially viable and fulfillment of these coverage commitments, particularly in
the context of the current economic downturn and its financial drought.
• Under the Federal Public Rights and Appropriations Law, there is a precedent which
contemplates the case where the payment of the government fee can be compounded
throughout a period of time.
• Such government participation would be only temporary
The model for the appraisal of the project
• This is a multi‐variate model, based on an industry‐validated analytic tool that has been already
used to analyze network deployments from a financial perspective in more than 30 countries
• it is flexible and easy‐to‐use. It allows for the stimulation of changes in the key variables and can
be adapted to simulate scenarios that are of interest to the user.
• Both national and international experts have been consulted for the fine‐tuning of this model, in
order to make it responsive to the specific conditions of Mexico.
• In the process of fine‐tuning and management of this model, governmental officials have kept
direct participation and management of the model´s utilization.
Assumptions of the model
A. Coverage and network deployment
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• A coverage scheme to give access to nearly 89% of the population in three years; i.e. nearly
95,000,000 inhabitants, including 21 million in rural areas. In the first place of the deployment
highways would not be included in the network coverage plan.
• As a comparison, Telcel's network has stated publicly that it currently covers 95% of Mexico's
population.
• In this project, coverage commitments established as measured by the number of localities
covered.
• The advantages of this methodology are:
9 The government would establish coverage and the regional priorities of the network's
employment
9 by defining coverage commitments in terms of localities, it is easier to verify fulfillment
and compliance.
9 The project will begin this year
9 coverage for contemplate the networks deployment by the end of the third year.
b. Services and rates
• The network will be designed for the provision of both fixed and mobile services, including
nomadic services.
• End‐users increasingly value mobility. The delivery of mobile services will generate more
revenue for the network.
• The cost of delivering mobility in this network is very low, which makes unnecessary for this
network to be designed for fixed services.
• The network would deliver services which for the most part are mobile broadband‐based, under
the following conditions:
9 Unrestricted access to the Internet
9 unrestricted access by terminal equipment and devices.
9 Guaranteed minimum speed/throughput.
9 Unbundled services.
9 Prepaid and pay‐as‐you‐go rates.
• In addition to mobile broadband, the network would offer the service of mobile telephony.
• The monthly rate for this type of service, may include at the same rate, monthly minutes to
generate calls to:
9 fixed and mobile local telephone numbers
9 fixed and mobile domestic long‐distance.
C. terminal equipment and devices
• The cost of terminal equipment to the end‐user may inhibit the attractiveness of the service,
particularly for those with lower incomes.
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• End‐user terminal equipment for mobile broadband services typically costs over USD$100,
which may present a case for subsidized equipment schemes.
Correlation between economic policy variables and transmission mechanisms
• By increasing urban zone coverage, as well as coverage in rural areas, the overall profitability of
the network tends to decrease.
• The amount of available spectrum for the deployment of a wireless network is inversely
correlated to operation and capital costs. The more available spectrum, the lower the cost to
deploy the network and vice versa.
• To see that the government has to charge for the usage of the spectrum represents a significant
cost in the development of a new wireless network.
• The network costs are sensitive to changes in the cost of access to the Internet backbone (which
can represent between 6% and 30% of the total costs to build a network over a period of 10
years).
• Interconnection costs can represent up to 14% of the total cost of building a network over a ten‐
year period. This is the second most important cost driver after the cost of accessing the
Internet backbone.
• There cumulated capital costs over the ten‐year period could be reduced by more than 30% in
the network could use shared sites for antennas, which represents total savings of nearly USD$1
billion.
Key participants of the project
• Current license holders of the 2.5 GHz band: the participation consists of the use of their current
licenses in this band, and other use of the infrastructure that may be used in installation of the
network.
• Potential investors: they would finance the project through capital as well as through
infrastructure that could be used for the deployment of the network, as is the case of optic fiber
antenna towers and sites.
• Government: it would participate through the conversion of the fee on the use of the spectrum
into equity, as a participant of the new consortium. It would also participate by defining a
coverage plan for the network, as well as by renewing the licenses for the 2.5 GHz band, as well
as by taking back a portion of this band for future use.
III. Impact of the Proposal.
• This network can be developed and deployed in the short run.
• It can avoid entering into an auction process that could delay the use of this spectrum in the 2.5
GHz band.
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• That is really interested in the part of investors to develop the new network.
• The participation of government could be done through the conversion of spectrum usage fees
into an equity participation, so as to allow for immediate deployment.
Possible criticisms of this proposal:
• Certain groups may be favored.
• Transparency in the use of public assets may be compromised.
• There may be risk of causing harm to the current operators.
Response to criticisms:
• The government will establish coverage requirements which can be met satisfactorily in the
short run and is also rescuing part of the spectrum of the 2.5 GHz band, while it also gets fair
payment for the renewal of the licenses and the use of the spectrum, as mandated by the
current law.
• It is not possible to deploy this network in the short run without the cooperation of the current
license holders.
• The current license holders for the 2.5 GHz band will not maintain majority control of the
network.
• The current operators of cellular networks do not have the incentives to deploy a new network
that can compete with themselves.
Necessary policy actions:
• Reach an agreement with the current license holders of the 2.5 GHz band to prevent this project
from being stalled by lawsuits.
• Constitutes an investment and operations consortium, but with participation of the current
license holders, so as to make this project sustainable.
• Modifying the current licenses, in order to establish the specific network coverage
requirements, as well as the available amount of spectrum to be used, including the amount of
spectrum to be rescued for later use.
• Establish the amount to be paid as a fee to the government, for a renewal and issuing of the
licenses for the 2.5 GHz spectrum band.
• Evaluate the mechanism through which the government would participate in the new entity, as
well as the mechanisms, conditions and timeline for its eventual exit from the investment
consortium.
Complementary actions by the government:
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• Establish additional policies to allow for a decrease in the costs of deployment of the new
network, as well as in the adoption costs to the new users, such as:
• Make additional optic fiber available from the electric utility company, CFE, to the operators.
• Facilitate access by operators to government‐controlled public infrastructure ‐‐ public buildings'
rooftops, sewage, ducts, land‐‐, as well as to public companies´ infrastructure, such as posts and
electric transmission towers.
• Implement a policy that facilitates the design and implementation of affordability schemes for
terminal equipment and devices, to the benefit of end users: e.g. the installation of
manufacturing operations in Mexico for netbooks and low‐cost laptops.
Conclusions:
• Our discussion has concentrated on the amount of spectrum that should be allocated to the
new network. However, such amount ought to be a function of the networks coverage and
immediate deployment requirements. Without these requirements being met, it makes no
sense to allocate a large amount of spectrum to a new network, for then we would incur the risk
of allowing that spectrum to be used inefficiently.
• In order to establish adequate coverage requirements/milestones for the new network, it is
necessary to:
a. Carry out a technical‐engineering analysis to define localities to be covered, according to the
existing infrastructure by region which can be complementary to the deployment of the
network of this magnitude.
There is a preliminary analysis of the localities that would be included in the new coverage
obligations. This analysis uses operational research techniques, as well as statistical
information that is geo‐referenced by the Mexican national statistics agency, INEGI.
However, subsidizes does not consider critical factors, such as the availability of optic fiber,
or the costs associated with laying new fiber wherever that may be necessary.
b. Gather a group of international experts which may assist in the establishment of specific
conditions to be met by the renewed licenses, so as to make them compatible with both the
coverage milestones, as well as the financial viability of the network. A critical piece of
analysis relates to the possible temporary government participation; which should be aimed
at solving the incentives problem for this project.
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