Izzi and Megacable Have Taken 1.2 Million Phone Lines
Mexico · TELECOMS
Key Facts
- Net gain 1,199,072 lines, all postpaid, to July 2026.
- Received from others 1.93 million numbers in total.
- Share from incumbents 94.2 percent came from three operators.
- Biggest source Telcel, at 1,270,453 lines received.
- Data source the IFT historical portability database.
Two companies better known for home internet have quietly built a mobile business out of other people’s customers.
Izzi and Megacable have a combined net gain of 1,199,072 mobile lines through number portability. Every one of them is a postpaid line.
What the numbers say
Izzi Telecom and Megacable together hold a net positive balance of 1,199,072 mobile lines gained through number portability. The count runs from the start of their records as mobile operators to July 2026.
All of those lines are postpaid. That is the contract market rather than the prepaid market where most Mexican mobile users sit.
They received 1.93 million numbers from operators other than themselves. Of those, 94.2 percent came from Telcel, AT&T and Movistar.
The underlying data is the historical number portability database maintained by the IFT, Mexico’s telecoms regulator.
El Economista published the analysis on 19 August 2026.
Izzi belongs to Grupo Televisa. Megacable is a separate listed operator based in Guadalajara.
Where the lines came from
Telcel is by far the largest source. It lost 1,270,453 numbers to the two cable companies and won back 426,579.
AT&T gave up 339,919 numbers and received 80,422, for a stated net loss of 259,497. Movistar gave up 210,911 and received 102,592, for a net loss of 108,319.
The Telcel net figure is not printed in the reporting. Subtracting the two published numbers gives 843,874, and we are labelling that as our arithmetic rather than as a published figure.
All three are described as balances to July 2026.
Movistar is the Mexican arm of Telefonica. AT&T Mexico is the third national network operator.
Between them the three hold almost the entire Mexican mobile market.
A gap worth explaining
Add the three incumbent nets together and you get 1,211,690. The stated overall net gain is 1,199,072.
The difference is about 12,618 lines. That is not an error.
It means Izzi and Megacable have lost roughly that many lines net to everyone else in the market. Smaller operators and virtual networks account for the rest.
We ran the arithmetic specifically to check whether the headline figure held up. It does.
The gap is the interesting part rather than a problem with the data.
Mexico has a growing set of virtual operators including Bait, which sells through Walmart stores. Those account for the outflow.
What number portability is
Number portability lets a subscriber move to a different operator and keep the same phone number. Mexico has had it since 2008.
The IFT keeps a record of every port, which is why this data exists at all. Few countries publish it in this detail.
The process in Mexico is fast by international standards. A port typically completes within a day.
For a challenger operator, that speed is the whole business model.
The regulator publishes the database as a matter of course. It is one of the few genuinely open competition datasets in Mexican telecoms.
Why cable companies are winning
Izzi and Megacable are cable operators. Their core business is home internet and television.
Both entered mobile as virtual operators, buying wholesale network capacity rather than building their own towers. That keeps costs down.
The sales pitch is bundling. A household already paying for cable is offered mobile lines at a discount.
That approach targets postpaid households specifically, which is why the entire net gain is postpaid.
Neither company built a national mobile network. That would have cost billions and taken years.
Renting capacity turns a fixed-line customer base into a mobile one almost immediately.
What it means for Telcel
Telcel remains the dominant operator in Mexico by a wide margin. Losing 1.27 million numbers over several years is not existential.
It is, however, concentrated in the contract market. Postpaid customers are worth several times a prepaid customer over their lifetime.
Telcel has been recovering some of these lines, taking 426,579 back over the same period. Churn runs in both directions.
The net direction has been steady, and it has not favoured the incumbent.
Telcel is part of America Movil, controlled by the Slim family. It has been subject to asymmetric regulation in Mexico for over a decade.
Number portability was one of the tools introduced to loosen its grip.
What this means if you live in Mexico
If you are on a postpaid plan, number portability means switching costs you your loyalty rather than your number. That is worth knowing before you renew.
Bundled cable and mobile offers are usually cheaper per line than a standalone contract. They also tie you to one supplier for both.
Coverage differs. A virtual operator rides on somebody else’s network, and quality depends on which one.
Ask which host network an offer uses before switching.
Porting requires an NIP code obtained by text message from your current operator. The process is free.
How to read the 1 million shorthand
Some coverage describes this as a million postpaid lines taken from the incumbents. The precise figure is a net gain of 1,199,072 lines.
The rounding undercounts, and it also blurs what the figure is. This is a net balance across the whole market, not a total taken from three companies.
The share taken from the incumbents is 94.2 percent of 1.93 million lines received, which is about 1.82 million. That is the gross figure.
Net and gross tell different stories here, and both are useful.
The precise figure is the one the IFT database supports. The rounded one travels further.
What to watch
The IFT updates the portability database monthly. The July 2026 cut-off will move.
Whether the incumbents respond on price is the open question. Postpaid discounting in Mexico has been restrained so far.
Number portability gives the regulator a clean measure of competition. Few other markets have one this direct.
We will revisit the figures when the next quarter’s data is out.
Prepaid remains the larger market in Mexico by subscriber count. Nothing in this data speaks to it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many lines have Izzi and Megacable gained?
A net 1,199,072 mobile lines to July 2026, all postpaid, according to the IFT portability database as reported by El Economista.
Where did most of them come from?
Telcel, AT&T and Movistar accounted for 94.2 percent of the 1.93 million numbers the two companies received from other operators.
Do the individual figures add up?
Almost. The three incumbent nets sum to 1,211,690, about 12,618 more than the stated total. The two companies lost roughly that many lines net to other operators.
What is number portability?
The right to change operator while keeping your phone number. Mexico has had it since 2008, and ports usually complete within a day.
Are these prepaid or contract customers?
All postpaid, which is the contract market. Postpaid customers are worth considerably more per line than prepaid ones.
Sources
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
In depth
Read More from The Rio Times