Summary
The most talked-about move in Mexican telecommunications this week has a name: Telefónica sold its Mexican operation to OXIO, and that announcement alone was enough to put Movistar back at the center of every conversation in the sector. This is no minor change but a piece that reconfigures the country's competitive map, with a transition process that is estimated to take about six months to complete. That waiting period has turned Movistar into the name everyone is watching, caught between the uncertainty of current users and curiosity about what OXIO will do with a customer base inherited in the middle of 2026.
Details
This exit from Telefónica does not happen in a vacuum. It is part of a broader restructuring that also involves AT&T's departure from the traditional competitive scheme, leaving Mexico facing what is already described as a duopoly between Televisa-América Móvil and whichever players manage to survive the restructuring. In this context, Telmex is taking advantage of the moment to reinforce its narrative of stability, appearing constantly in internet price comparisons against rivals such as Izzi, Totalplay and Megacable, in a package war that has already brought the symbolic threshold of 500 pesos per month down as a commercial hook. Izzi, for its part, maintains its presence by defending competitive rates in that same dispute, while Totalplay insists on its combination of internet and landline telephony as a selling point for an audience increasingly sensitive to price. In the mobile arena, the fight has a different tone: AT&T Prepago continues to appear in this week's top-up comparisons, trying to retain users in a segment where every peso counts, while Movistar Prepago does the same with active validity plans that seek to compete directly for that same wallet. Unefon gained an additional boost, almost indirectly, thanks to the conversation about number portability that erupted after Telcel reported the loss of more than 1.7 million users in the national telephone registry, a figure that any alternative operator can capitalize on. Virgin Mobile maintains its own offensive with an active campaign of top-ups, registration and bonuses that keeps it highly visible on digital channels, while Diri Móvil launched an October promotion focused on number portability and multiplying gigabytes, betting on attracting those who finally decide to switch carriers after the noise generated by the departure of the big foreign operators. Motorola, meanwhile, is fighting its own battle in the hardware arena: the brand has regained strong visibility in Mexico thanks to new foldable models and constant activity in its local channel, reminding everyone that behind every data contract there is also a fight for the device that sustains it.
- 1That waiting period has turned Movistar into the name everyone is watching, caught between the uncertainty of current users and curiosity about what OXIO will do with a customer base inherited in the middle of 2026.
- 2This is no minor change but a piece that reconfigures the country's competitive map, with a transition process that is estimated to take about six months to complete.
- 3This exit from Telefónica does not happen in a vacuum.
Conclusion
What is clear is that October marked a turning point for telecommunications in Mexico: the departure of foreign players such as Telefónica and AT&T from the traditional scheme opens a window of opportunity that mid-sized operators and prepaid brands are seizing without disguise. Movistar draws attention because of the sales process, but the real movement is happening on the margins, where Unefon, Virgin Mobile and Diri Móvil fight for every user who decides to port their line, and where Telmex, Izzi and Totalplay wage a price war that will ultimately benefit, above all, the final consumer.