AT&T buys Nextel Mexico to create 'North American Mobile Service area'

AT&T has acquired another Mexican carrier in what seems to be an effort to conquer the continent... well, two of its countries anyway. Ma Bell has snapped up Nextel Mexico for $1.875 billion, shortly after its Iusacell (also a Mexican carrier) acquisition was approved by the country's telecom regulator, Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT). This time around, the IFT quickly approved the sale and transfer of Nextel's spectrum licenses, network assets, retail outlets and subscribers to AT&T, so the carrier can execute its plans ASAP. According to the company's official announcement, it will merge Iusacell and Nextel into a single company for wider coverage and as part of its plan to create "the first-ever North American Mobile Service area." Despite its name, that area only encompasses the US and Mexico, but it will cover over 400 million consumers in both countries once the merged company's up and running.

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