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 Business News | January 2008 
Mexico's Slim Short-Listed for Panama License
 Andrew Beatty - Reuters
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| | Carlos Slim | | |
Panama City - A company owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has been short-listed for one of two mobile phone licenses in Panama, one of the few countries in Latin America where he does not operate.
Panama's National Authority for Public Services (ASEP) said on Tuesday that Slim's Claro Panama, Irish-backed company Digicel and Telemovil El Salvador had met all the legal and economic requirements for the public tender.
Claro Panama is a unit of America Movil (AMXL.MX)(AMX.N), the largest cellphone company in Latin America. Slim has openly said he wants to enter the Panama mobile market.
The three bidders will now be asked to present their full proposals by April 3 this year. The license contracts are expected to fetch at least $50 million each according to Panamanian government officials.
The winners will be the two companies that bid highest, as long as other elements of their proposals meet government specifications.
Panama currently has 2.4 million mobile users, split between two operators: UK firm Cable & Wireless Plc (CW.L) and Movistar, part of Spain's Telefonica SA (TEF.MC).
ASEP's deputy director of networks, Horario Hoquee, said in statement that contracts are expected to be signed by April 14, so the winning companies can begin services by the end of this year.
French-backed Wirefree Services Panama failed to qualify. Around a half dozen companies originally expressed interest in the 20-year concession licenses.
(Editing by Andre Grenon) |
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