AT&T has entered into an agreement with NII Holdings, to acquire its wireless business, Nextel for US$1.875 billion, expanding further to Mexico after its acquisition of lusacell last month for US$2.5B. Under terms of the agreement, AT&T will acquire companies, which operate under the name Nextel Mexico, holding all of NII’s wireless properties in Mexico, including spectrum licenses, network assets, retail stores and approximately 3 million subscribers. Nextel Mexico’s network covers approximately 76 million people.
The acquisition of Nextel Mexico will support AT&T’s plans to bring greater competition and faster mobile Internet speeds to the Mexican wireless market. The second largest wireless carrier in the US by subscriber said that it plans to create the first-ever North American Mobile Service area covering over 400 million consumers and businesses in Mexico and the United States, and Nextel Mexico’s subscribers will be included. Combining Nextel Mexico with Iusacell will allow AT&T to more quickly improve and expand its mobile Internet service to the benefit of millions of Mexicans, particularly those who live outside major metropolitan areas, than it could otherwise do without the transaction, said AT&T.
Steve Shindler, chief executive officer of NII Holdings
The transaction with AT&T ensures that customers of Nextel Mexico will continue to be served by a high quality telecommunications company committed to providing innovative products, services and solutions to the market. We believe that the sale of Nextel Mexico represents an opportunity to reduce our operational risk, deliver value to our stakeholders and provide the liquidity that will position us to emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization with a healthy balance sheet and fund our business plan in Brazil. The sale also allows our Mexico team to continue to grow and thrive, capitalizing on the opportunities in the Mexican telecom market with the support of one of the largest telecom companies in the world.
