AT&T and Telefónica exits leave Mexico's mobile market to Televisa and Telcel

AT&T agreed on Oct. 14 to sell its Mexican wireless business to Grupo Televisa and financier David Martínez's Fintech Holdings for $2 billion in cash, the second foreign exit from Mexico's mobile market this year and one that leaves Telcel and Televisa as its dominant players.

The move follows Telefónica's April agreement to sell Movistar México to a consortium led by the cloud platform Oxio and Newfoundland Capital Management for $450 million, according to Light Reading. Movistar had 21.7 million customers and about 16.6% of the market at the end of 2025. Mexico's antitrust commission approved that transaction in early October, but it has not closed.

AT&T México counted 23.4 million subscribers at the end of June 2026, making it the country's second-largest mobile operator. América Móvil's Telcel held 84.5 million customers and close to 60% of the market, LightShed Partners estimated. Scotiabank called the $2 billion price a "bargain" for Televisa, lifting the company's combined fixed and wireless share from 8% to 19%.

For the cross-border households that keep a Mexican line for calls to family and for data on visits home, the consolidation narrows the field of network owners. The purchase adds a national mobile network to Televisa's Izzi broadband and Sky satellite businesses, giving the company a four-service bundle for the first time.

AT&T Chief Executive John Stankey said the sale "is consistent with our long-term strategy to focus our capital allocation on opportunities for growth in the vibrant U.S. market." The deal needs approval from Mexico's competition authority and its telecom regulator, the bodies that took over the duties of the Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Federal Telecommunications Institute) after it was dissolved.

Expansión reported that the framework splits oversight between the Comisión Nacional Antimonopolio (National Antitrust Commission, or CNA) and the telecom regulator. Moreno, a specialist cited by the outlet, said the CNA "has enormous responsibilities, a smaller budget, less autonomy and less technical capacity." Moreno said the agency will probably rule on whether the market is a duopoly and attach conditions without requiring structural changes.

The AT&T sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to those approvals. The review will test how the new regulators treat a mobile market with two Mexican-owned groups at the top.

Sources: Salida de AT&T y Telefónica deja duopolio de Televisa y América Móvil · AT&T follows Telefónica out of Mexico with $2B sale

This story was written with the help of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.