Telford Homes Share News (TEF)

By Julia Love

MEXICO CITY, March 22 (Reuters) - Mexico's landmarkwholesale national mobile network launched this week, butwithout a single major wireless carrier on board, renewingdebate about how best to boost competition in the telecom sectordominated by billionaire Carlos Slim.

On Wednesday, President Enrique Pena Nieto and otherofficials gathered for the official launch of the so-called RedCompartida (shared network) - a wholesale-only project writteninto the nation's 2013-14 telecoms reform.

The government says the network will cut the costs ofdeveloping infrastructure for carriers, particularly in ruralareas with poor coverage, and make it easier for new players toenter the market.

"It's a model in which everyone wins," Pena Nieto said.

But Mexico's three major carriers have not signed on yet,raising questions about its ability to raise investment.

Operated by newly-created Altan Redes, the network currentlyreaches 32 percent of the Mexican population with 4g, and aimsto cover over 92 percent eventually.

Industry insiders thought Telefonica, which haslong struggled to gain traction in Mexico, could benefit fromthe network. But the carrier has not reached an agreement to useit, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

AT&T, which spent billions to enter Mexico after thereform, suggested it may sign on in the future.

"If the Red Compartida has coverage in an area where wedon't, we would certainly consider using it," a spokeswoman forAT&T said in a statement.

Slim's America Movil, which has Mexico's biggestnetwork by far, has no plans to use it, Chief Executive DanielHajj says.

"I don't think they are going to give me something that Idon't have," Hajj told an earnings call last month.

Officials at Altan, which counts a fund managed by MorganStanley infrastructure and the China-Mexico fund created by thetwo countries in 2014, as its largest shareholders, gave nodetails on the network's clients.

America Movil has about two-thirds of mobile phonesubscriptions in Mexico.

In light of this, Mexico had to try "something unorthodox"like the Red Compartida to spur competition, said Roger Entner,a telecom analyst in Massachusetts.

But the network will initially create business for AmericaMovil, and carriers have little incentive to use it in areaswhere they already have coverage, said Scott Wallsten, presidentof the Technology Policy Institute, a U.S.-based think-tank.

The network has a roaming agreement with America Movil andwill use some of the company's towers, Altan said.

Wallsten and other critics of the network argue Mexico wouldhave been better served by auctioning the spectrum it uses.

Altan must make a profit to keep investing in its network,said Jorge Negrete, CEO of think-tank Mediatelecom.

That could be tough without major players on board, thoughthe network could attract more mobile virtual network operators,whose presence has been limited in Mexico.

Though the network aims to reach rural areas, experts saythe initial launch is skewed toward big cities, with coverage inMexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Altan said the network will initially cover 5.6 millionresidents in under-served populations, surpassing its obligationof 4.7 million residents in places with fewer than 10,000inhabitants.(Editing by Dave Graham and Frances Kerry)