Bait’s entry into postpaid could impact Telcel and AT&T’s revenues

Walmart’s telephone company has recorded the highest rates of adding recharge customers, but this has not been enough to displace Telcel, especially in terms of revenue. However, Bait has decided to change this situation by betting on one of the most important segments of the mobile market: postpaid plans to improve your financial outlook.

Walmart’s Bait plans to apply the recharge scheme to that of telephone plans, that is, offer monthly rental packages with large amounts of data for a lower price compared to what competitors offer. Price has become one of the main incentives for consumers in a more volatile economic environment due to inflation.

But Bait’s entry into postpaid could mean a new impact for Telcel and AT&T, who already face fewer additions of prepaid customers because Walmart’s OMV rates are up to 30% cheaper compared to those of traditional operators such as Telcel. , according to Selectra data.

This situation would make the telephone plans of Telcel and AT&T less attractive, who focus their efforts on attracting higher-spending customers to their postpaid and even migrating their recharge customers to telephone plans. Added to that they are currently dealing with complaints from users who point out that their data runs out quickly and they end up paying a high monthly rent.

Jorge Moreno Loza, a lawyer specialized in telecommunications, believes that without a doubt Bait postpaid will be positioned as an alternative for regular customers in that segment and even for consumers who are still on the recharge model due to the possible prices that the OMV will launch. to the market; However, he points out that the success of the OMV will depend on the coverage and operation of Altán Redes, the company that supports Bait traffic thanks to its wholesale agreement, which this year reported failures in its service.

“Postpaid is an already very defined market, but the payment methods that Bait can implement can be a trigger for its growth,” said Moreno Loza.

The price and gigabyte advantage that Walmart’s telephone company has is possible thanks to the network capacity it receives from Altán, a wholesale provider that operates under asymmetries in the mobile market due to the exploitation of the spectrum with payment deferrals and public investments, which generates suspicions on the part of Telcel and AT&T due to possible benefits for the company.

Experts previously told Expansión that the competitive rates may come from subsidies from the company, since it belongs to a multinational giant that can assume those costs. But it is unknown if Altán has a different agreement with Bait to offer connectivity services at different prices.

Gabriel Cejudo, director of Bait, emphasized that the company likes competition and the entry into postpaid will bring with it new dynamism for this business vertical that will be housed under the motto of low prices for more capacity.

“We want to consolidate the business and this will be possible thanks to the offer we bring, which is up to seven times cheaper than the others and consists of providing seven times more data and this will undoubtedly give us a great advantage,” said the director of the telephone company. Walmart.

Bait so far has 15.1 million users. It also received sales of 1,872 million pesos in the third quarter of 2024, according to preliminary data from the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT). While Telcel has 84.1 million customers and billed 60,651 million pesos in the same period.