Spanish telecom Telefónica, which serves 23 million customers in Mexico under the Movistar brand, will withdraw from the Mexican market to focus on its European business.
The departure doubles down on Telefónica’s strategic plan, known as Transform & Grow, which focuses on strengthening operations in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom between 2026 and 2030.
Telefónica also plans to exit the Chile and Venezuela markets and is in “an advanced state of exiting” Colombia, according to the firm’s CEO Marc Murtra. It has already sold its operations in Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador.
“We are going to leave Latin America,” Murtra said during a conference in which he presented Telefónica’s financial results.
No specific exit date has been stated for the three remaining Latin American countries, including Mexico, so as not to interfere with negotiations with potential buyers, according to Murtra.
The revenue of Telefónica’s Latin America unit has fallen in recent quarters, with a 3.6% decrease in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 compared to the same period last year. However, Telefónica Movistar México’s Q3 results were positive, as service revenues grew 2.7%.
While Telefónica’s Movistar has a strong user base in Mexico, its market share has fallen in recent years due to the historical dominance of other companies, as well as the growing popularity of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).
At the end of Q3 of 2024, Mexico’s mobile market consisted of 148.3 million lines, 56.18% of which belonged to Telcel, 15% to AT&T and 14.57% to Telefónica. Meanwhile, MVNOs contributed 14.22% of the market share.
It is currently unclear what will happen to the millions of Movistar users once the company leaves the Mexican market.
Analysts, however, expect that Movistar Mexico users will be automatically transferred to Virgin Mobile’s network, allowing them to keep their phone number and SIM card, as has been the case with other Latin American markets where Telefónica has withdrawn services.
With reports from La Jornada and Wired
