AT&T has closed a deal to purchase Nextel Mexico, a wireless provider with around 3 million subscribers and a network that's estimated to cover 76 million people. AT&T will pay $1.875 billion for the company, less any outstanding debt it may have.

AT&T is making a big play for Mexico

Nextel Mexico is the second Mexican wireless provider that AT&T has bought in the past few months. Back in November, AT&T reached a deal to acquire the Mexican provider Iusacell and its 9.2 million subscribers as well. By combining those two providers, AT&T will very quickly expand its presence in Mexico and create another large provider within the country. AT&T says that its goal is to "bring greater competition and faster mobile internet speeds to the Mexican wireless market," and that Nextel in particular will help it reach people outside of major cities. Though AT&T will be far from the largest provider in Mexico even after these purchases — Telcel is currently reported to have a 70 percent share of the country's wireless market — this is clearly an aggressive start toward competing with the country's biggest names.

As part of the purchase, AT&T will gain control of Nextel Mexico's wireless spectrum licenses, network assets, and retail stores, along with anything else that might be considered part of its wireless assets. The deal is expected to close in mid-2015 and requires approval from both the US and Mexico. AT&T's purchase of Iusacell closed earlier this month.