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 Business News | January 2008 
Mexico Starts Probe of Fixed-Line Phone Industry
 Adriana Lopez Caraveo & William Freebairn - Bloomberg
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| | Mexican cable providers yesterday took out full-page ads in the nation's largest newspapers to urge Calderon to curb the market power of Slim's companies. | | |
Mexico's antitrust regulators started investigating the fixed-line telephone market to determine whether Carlos Slim's company exerts too much control, part of a government effort to limit his influence.
The Federal Competition Commission probe is under way and will be formally announced soon, Angel Lopez Hoher, who heads the agency's information committee, said in an interview today. He spoke after talking to legislators in Mexico city.
Telefonos de Mexico SAB, which helped Slim become one of the world's richest billionaires, has about 90 percent of the nation's fixed lines. President Felipe Calderon has fought for more competition in the phone industry to help fuel growth in Latin America's second-largest economy.
The probe is the third of Mexico's telecommunications industry since November. The government also is investigating the wireless industry, where Slim also dominates. America Movil SAB, his mobile-phone company, has three-quarters of Mexico's market.
Mexican cable providers yesterday took out full-page ads in the nation's largest newspapers to urge Calderon to curb the market power of Slim's companies, saying they overcharge consumers and hurt the country's competitiveness.
Telefonos de Mexico, also known as Telmex, has rejected that stance, and is seeking permission to offer television service. Telmex's press office didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the probe.
The latest antitrust investigation incorporates a complaint made last year by the Mexican unit of Spain's Telefonica SA, Lopez Hoher said. Telefonica is the country's second-largest mobile-phone company. Eduardo Perez Motta, president of the antitrust commission, said last year the fixed-line probe would begin in early 2008.
Telmex rose 82 centavos, or 4.7 percent, to 18.30 pesos in Mexico City trading. The shares have fallen 9.3 percent this year, compared with a 9 percent decline for the main Bolsa index.
To contact the reporters on this story: Adriana Lopez Caraveo in Mexico City at adrianalopez(at)bloomberg.net ; William Freebairn in Mexico City at wfreebairn(at)bloomberg.net |
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