AT&T accuses that the IFT inhibits the opportunity to enter new lines of business

An alternative for the telecommunications company is private networks – a connection within a specific network that allows establishing a secure environment for an operation – stands as a new business opportunity to make telecommunications companies profitable.

For example, a network of this type was developed by Pemex to store and process information in real time from its operations in Coahuila, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Tabasco, Tamaulipas and Veracruz. With this network the oil company will monitor the control of wells, crude oil extraction on offshore platforms, refinery operations, management of petrochemical complexes, coordination of product pumping through pipelines, financial and administrative coordination between work centers, among other critical functions to avoid accidents.

However, the spectrum auction (IFT-12), prepared by the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), could limit this opportunity to AT&T.

This offer from the organization seeks to be one of the most robust in the country’s history, but also to be more flexible by opening its doors to companies outside the industry, by selling ‘pieces’ of spectrum to develop their own private networks. And even outline the ideal circumstances for Altán Redes, another of the companies that has publicly said that private networks will become one of its business pillars, to acquire radio bands that the telecommunications regulator is seeking to put out to tender.

“It is proposed to put the spectrum market in a thousand pieces but this takes away one of the most important future lines of business for operators, which are private industrial networks that can allow them to obtain capital for new generation networks at a time when it is more difficult. have a return on investment,” warned Mónica Aspe, general director of AT&T Mexico, in an interview with the media.

The so-called private networks are increasingly becoming more relevant within companies by allowing them the ability to maintain the confidentiality of information, have secure remote access and optimize the use of resources efficiently, hence the commitment of telecommunications operators. like AT&T.

Pemex recently obtained a radio spectrum concession to deploy a private communications network in its maritime and land facilities. The mining companies Peñoles, Grupo Bal and Grupo México are other companies that have acquired radio bands to integrate private LTE networks into their operations in various states of the republic. This trend is expected to reach other industries such as ports, agriculture, automotive and manufacturing.

But the creation of private networks by the industries themselves is a situation that worries AT&T, pointing out that it would not only limit the operators’ lines of business, but would also degrade the download speed of its network by up to 25%.

“This can cause damage to the quality of service for the operators’ customers when these practices are generated, because a site with interference is generated in the same spectrum,” the directive stated.

The CEO of AT&T has asked to rethink the spectrum sales strategy to avoid setbacks in terms of coverage and the generation of new business models at a time when Mexico requires greater network widths to satisfy the demand of users and industries by nearshoring.

The consulting firm Analysys Mason assures that private LTE and 5G networks are still in development, but trends indicate that the number of networks will soon grow to 20,600 networks by 2027 worldwide.

“We have the largest operators in the world but we must ask ourselves why we are not growing. We want to invest in the long term but let’s make it possible. I think it is a perfect crisis because it is a perfect opportunity where the times of the industry and politics can align to rethink what the digital Mexico of the future is,” said Mónica Aspe.