Mexico has confirmed receipt of its first bid for a planned state-owned mobile network, a bid that reportedly involved equipment makers Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, it emerged this week.

A government spokesperson told Reuters that it has received a proposal to build the network.

The newswire cited unnamed sources as saying that Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent had a hand in the bid, although there has been no comment from the vendors themselves.

The sources added that the government aims to select a winning bid for the $10 billion network project by the middle of next year.

The network project is part of a wider-ranging attempt on the part of the government to introduce more competition into the Mexican mobile market, which at present is dominated by America Movil. The incumbent has a mobile market share of around 69% and has found itself on the receiving end of a raft of new regulations designed to curb its dominance. As a result, it is working on the sale of a chunk of assets – both fixed and mobile – to help it bring down its market share.

The state hopes that rolling out a new network and opening it up for use by the retail telecoms providers will also boost competition. In theory, it could help the market's smaller players – including Telefonica's Movistar and Iusacell – increase coverage without committing to hefty investments, while also encouraging new MVNOs to enter the market.