Telcel and AT&T are pushing the deployment of 5G technology in Mexico. Recently, Carlos Slim’s company announced that it will begin marketing these services with postpaid plans, while AT&T is carrying out pilot tests in Mexico City. But, whether the user wants to access technology with the Mexican company or with the American company, in both cases it will be necessary to acquire smartphones capable of operating with 5G, which in the country have a price ranging from 7,000 pesos to 20,000 pesos. Even more.
According to the analysts consulted, 5G will initially be little accessible to Mexicans, since this technology requires more expensive devices and although there are currently mid-range 5G phones and postpaid plans from 600 pesos per month by Telcel, with an integrated smartphone , the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic and intensified by inflation, will make its adoption more complicated.
“It is limited (5G) for people who have the possibility of buying a phone and who can purchase a plan for 600 pesos: people of a certain socioeconomic level who have a fixed income, who have a credit card, who can bear the payment of the plan,” said Erick de la Cruz, an analyst at the Select consulting firm.
Daniel Hajj, CEO of América Móvil, commented at Telcel’s 5G presentation that he will seek to have plans that are accessible to users, as well as equipment from 5,999 pesos so that this technology begins to be more used by Mexicans. But this will happen in the medium term.
Currently, of the 124.7 million mobile lines in Mexico, 82.1% are under the recharge scheme and only 17.9% under the postpaid plan, whose percentages are due to two factors: the change in data consumption due to the pandemic and the cost of telephone plans, which are even more expensive for users than recharges.
For this reason, experts estimate that the adoption of 5G in the country will also be a challenge for companies, since they must develop affordable telephone plans and even in prepaid mode, as well as seek to make the equipment accessible, which now takes more than three years to change phones.
“The fact that there are fewer people able to pay for these services or to increase their budget for 5G is a challenge for companies and for the country because this can increase inequities between those who have the possibility of having these services and those who do not. ”, commented Michel Hernández, director of Observatel.
5G only in certain areas
Another challenge that Mexico will have for the adoption of 5G will be its initial coverage. Telcel’s fifth generation network will be available in 18 cities in the country, and within those sites the network will be open in strategic locations and mayor’s offices. While AT&T focuses on the Napoles neighborhood and the Diana Tower, both in Mexico City.
Although the experts explain that this decision of the companies is not due to discrimination, but to a business model so that there is a return on investment, the fact that only 5G is available in certain areas can cause the digital and skills gap technologies increase in the country.
“One of the main challenges is that in Mexico there is still a very important digital gap of people who have not had access to 3G (which allows sending emails, messages and surfing the Internet) or any type of connectivity. The fact that a new technology arrives with more capabilities and applications becomes a greater challenge for these people to adopt that technology and develop technological skills,” Hernández warned.
For experts, the transition to new technologies should be orderly, but the lack of a digital policy means that users cannot migrate and access new connectivity networks.
Currently, 3G predominates in Mexico: 52% of Mexicans access it. Another 37% access 4G, which also allows videoconferencing, downloading applications, surfing the Internet and using social networks. And only 11% of the population remains with 2G services, which allows calling and sending messages, according to the study ‘The Mobile Economy in Latin America 2021’, prepared by the global organization GSMA.
