America Movil (AM)-backed Telcel – Mexico’s largest mobile operator by subscribers – has revealed plans to launch ‘4.5G’ services in 76 cities this year. While the cellco has remained coy regarding the specific technical make-up of the upgraded network, it claims that the 4.5G infrastructure is capable of delivering downlink transmission speeds that are ten times faster than those available over its standard LTE network.
However, while Telcel’s website claims that the network will support download speeds of up to 1Gbps, local technology website Xataka.com.mx reports that it achieved speeds of between 200Mbps and 300Mbps during a trial. According to Telcel, the network will be accessible to all users with a compatible handset, and no SIM swap is required.