Mexican telecom group America Movil plans to invest about $8 billion this year to boost its network infrastructure and acquire additional 5G spectrum in new markets. The telco aims to acquire 5G frequencies in countries such as Brazil, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Although they are interested in the 5G auctions that will probably take place in October, the company already owns frequencies in the 3.5 GHz spectrum in that market. America Movil added 6.8 million wireless subscribers in the last quarter of 2020, twice as many as in the precedent quarter. They included 2.7 million mobile postpaid subscribers of which almost 2 million subscribers came from Brazil, 223,000 from Peru and 201,000 from Colombia.
America Movil’s net profit grew to MXN37.3 billion ($1.8 billion), up almost 80% year-on-year due largely to gains from favorable foreign exchange movements as the Mexican peso strengthened against the U.S. dollar and the euro. The group’s revenue declined 3% year-on-year MXN255 billion, with the majority of the decline attributed to lower takings from equipment sales. Going into the fourth quarter, the economic recovery already underway appeared to be picking up speed throughout most of our region of operations, with confidence levels shooting up in November following the U.S. presidential election and, shortly thereafter, the announcements of the approval of vaccines meant to ward off the COVID 19 virus.