Plans will be published this month for a fiber optic tender in Mexico.

Local and international telecom firms are looking forward to the bidding and the Mexico investment opportunity to expand their markets and provide faster communications.

Gabriela Hernandez, Deputy Communications and Transport Minister, said the government hoped to award the contracts in January.

Mexico's government-owned power company, CFE, owns a 16,777 mile (27,000km) fiber optic network and will put two unused parts of it out to tender.

CFE's infrastructure will give private telecoms companies a leg-up for their Mexico investment and offers a new route for delivering phone, television and internet to Mexican homes and businesses.

Hernandez said CFE's "backbone" will be split into three networks: Pacific, from Baja California to Oaxaca; Center, from Chihuahua to Chiapas; and Gulf, from Nuevo Leon to the Yucatan Peninsula.

The move is expected to drastically improve the speed and reliability of communications and represents a massive opportunity for Mexico investment from the winning bidder.