Axtel Taps MDC’s MCA2 in McAllen to Boost Border Connectivity

Axtel has selected MDC Data Centers’ MCA2 facility in McAllen, Texas, as its main new point of presence (PoP) at the US–Mexico border, in a move both companies say will consolidate digital interconnection and strengthen an “open and unified” binational connectivity ecosystem.

Under the partnership, Axtel will complete its transition out of the Chase building and into MDC’s purpose-built site, which serves as the core of MDC’s Border Connect Platform. The companies frame the shift as a step toward higher density, neutrality, scalability, and operational continuity for cross-border digital services, while expanding access to resilient routes and low-latency connectivity for carriers, cloud providers, content platforms, and enterprise users.

MDC’s release on the agreement adds that the MCA2 integration is positioned as the “final step” in McAllen’s evolution into a unified interconnection hub, citing the convergence of Mexico networks at the facility as a foundation for more inclusive cross-border connectivity and operator collaboration.

The companies also tie the McAllen hub strategy to Mexico’s internal digital backbone. Axtel says it is reinforcing high-availability infrastructure supported by a national network of more than 50,000km of fiber optic and presence in 90% of Mexico’s industrial parks, while the partnership is intended to help consolidate the digital corridor toward Queretaro, one of the country’s fast-growing technology and data center hubs.

Axtel’s Bancomext Credit and Debt Refinancing

Alongside the connectivity push, Axtel has been reshaping its financing profile. In December 2025, the company announced it formalized a MX$1.6 billion (US$89.35 million) credit facility with Mexico’s development bank Bancomext, with a 10-year term, to prepay existing debt.

Axtel said the financing enabled an early prepayment of US$60 million tied to an International Finance Corporation (IFC) loan, plus a partial prepayment of US$28 million on a syndicated bank facility. The company said the transactions increased its average debt life from roughly three to four years and supported a higher share of peso-denominated debt to reduce FX risk. 

TAM-1 Subsea Cable

The border interconnection strategy also fits into broader efforts to expand international capacity. In September 2025, Trans Americas Fiber System (TAFS) and Axtel announced an alliance to bring the TAM-1 submarine cable system to Mexico, with commercial operations targeted for 1Q26.

TAM-1 spans over 7,000km and is designed to connect Mexico with the United States, Central America, Colombia, and the Caribbean, including a direct link to Ashburn, Virginia, one of the most important US data hubs, MBN reports. Under the agreement, TAFS contributes subsea capacity while Axtel provides terrestrial infrastructure for the landing in Mexico, including 48,000km of terrestrial fiber transport, more than 1,000 points of presence, and coverage across 77 cities, connecting major hubs such as Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Queretaro. 

Axtel’s recent messaging has emphasized that network scale and performance are becoming central competitive factors as AI, cloud, and emerging industrial use cases accelerate bandwidth demand. In October 2024, Roldán Fernández, Director of Network Engineering and Operations, Axtel, told MBN that AI is already driving rising requirements for high-capacity bandwidth, citing data center concentration in Queretaro and the need to redesign networks with more points of presence for secure and efficient data transmission. He also said Axtel has certified technologies to handle significantly larger bandwidths, “up to even 800Gbps,” as traffic needs increase.