Mexican mobile operators Iusacell and Nextel de Mexico have agreed to withdraw lawsuits filed over a 2010 government mobile spectrum auction. This move ends more than a year of legal battle, Dow Jones reports.

Nextel de Mexico reached an agreement with Grupo Iusacell to end litigation related to the auction, in which Nextel won a nationwide band of 30 MHz that it is using to develop its 3G network. Iusacell disputed the 2010 auction and took court action, claiming that the spectrum caps set by the antitrust regulator meant that Nextel obtained the spectrum unchallenged with the minimum bid.

Regulators defended the caps as a way of evening out the amount of mobile spectrum available to competitors, although the intention of attracting a fifth mobile operator was unsuccessful and another 30 MHz spectrum block remained unassigned. Mexico’s Communications and Transport Ministry welcomed the agreement, stating that it gives legal certainty to operators as they invest in their networks.