Movistar exits Mexico cell service market

Spanish telecom Telefónica, which serves 23 cardinal customers successful Mexico nether the Movistar brand, volition retreat from the Mexican marketplace to absorption connected its European business. 

The departure doubles down connected Telefónica’s strategical plan, known arsenic Transform & Grow, which focuses connected strengthening operations successful Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom betwixt 2026 and 2030. 

Telefónica CEO Marc Murtra says his institution is besides leaving Chile, Venezuela and Colombia, and has already near Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador. (Javier Matuk/X)

Telefónica besides plans to exit the Chile and Venezuela markets and is successful “an precocious authorities of exiting” Colombia, according to the firm’s CEO Marc Murtra. It has already sold its operations successful Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador.

“We are going to permission Latin America,” Murtra said during a league successful which helium presented Telefónica’s fiscal results. 

No circumstantial exit day has been stated for the 3 remaining Latin American countries, including Mexico, truthful arsenic not to interfere with negotiations with imaginable buyers, according to Murtra. 

The gross of Telefónica’s Latin America portion has fallen successful caller quarters, with a 3.6% alteration successful the 3rd 4th (Q3) of 2025 compared to the aforesaid play past year. However, Telefónica Movistar México’s Q3 results were positive, arsenic work revenues grew 2.7%. 

While Telefónica’s Movistar has a beardown idiosyncratic basal successful Mexico, its marketplace stock has fallen successful caller years owed to the humanities dominance of different companies, arsenic good arsenic the increasing popularity of mobile virtual web operators (MVNOs). 

At the extremity of Q3 of 2024, Mexico’s mobile marketplace consisted of 148.3 cardinal lines, 56.18% of which belonged to Telcel, 15% to AT&T and 14.57% to Telefónica. Meanwhile, MVNOs contributed 14.22% of the marketplace share. 

It is presently unclear what volition hap to the millions of Movistar users erstwhile the institution leaves the Mexican market.

Analysts, however, expect that Movistar Mexico users volition beryllium automatically transferred to Virgin Mobile’s network, allowing them to support their telephone fig and SIM card, arsenic has been the lawsuit with different Latin American markets wherever Telefónica has withdrawn services. 

With reports from La Jornada and Wired