Billionaire Slim Criticizes OECD Report on Mexico’s Phone Industry
February 2nd, 2012Source: Business Week
Billionaire Carlos Slim was out of context and off the mark in his criticism of a study finding a lack of competition in Mexico’s phone industry, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
Slim told reporters yesterday that the group’s report, released earlier this week, seemed to use data “pulled out of thin air.” The 72-year-old, who controls Mexico’s largest wireless and landline-phone companies, denied the study’s claims that Mexican carriers overcharged consumers $13.4 billion a year for phone and Internet services from 2005 to 2009.
Mexico’s government, which commissioned the study, is using it to validate efforts to create more competition in telecommunications. The findings support the government’s plan to auction off fiber-optic lines owned by the state power company and contracts to push high-speed Internet into communities where it’s not available, Communications and Transportation Minister Dionisio Perez-Jacome said this week.
“The OECD stands by its …
The Dominance of Slim Comes Under Question in Mexico
February 11th, 2011
Scrutinizing Slim: At the end of the day, is his dominant firm – Telmex – hurting or helping Mexico’s competitiveness?
By Matias Maciel
Does the wide-bodied presence of Mexican telephone giant Telmex hurt the competitiveness of the country’s ICT market? Even if the businesses of the Carso Group – the global conglomerate owned by Carlos Slim – are not technically a monopoly, the specter of this dominance is apparent in virtually every part of the telecom services delivery chain in Mexico.
Slim might reject the claim that Telmex is a monopoly. However, it will be difficult for the Mexican tycoon to ever free himself of the “Mr. Monopoly” nickname as The Wall Street Journal labeled him in an article published in August 2007 here. With over 200 companies under his control at that time – including telecommunications, cigarettes, 
construction, mining, bicycles, soft-drinks, airlines, hotels, railways, banking and printing – the newspaper pointed out it that was difficult to spend one day in Mexico and not contribute to Mr. Slim’s pockets.
MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim said Monday that his companies plan to invest $8.3 billion in 19 Latin American countries, mainly in Brazil and Mexico.
Slim, considered the world’s richest man with an estimated fortune of $53.5 billion, said he will put about $2.5 billion into Brazil — the region’s largest market — and invest $3.7 billion in Mexico.
Part of the Mexico outlay includes about $1.6 billion in America Movil, Latin America’s largest phone service provider. Another $2.1 billion will go toward Slim’s other retail and construction businesses in Mexico, including $1.1 billion in his infrastructure company, IDEAL.
Most of the Brazil investment will be in the telecommunications area, he said. The remaining funds will be invested across the region.
Slim told reporters during a three-hour news conference that he hopes his …
Nearshore ICT: Slim Gets his Wish with Mexico Mega-Mobile Merger
February 15th, 2010Mexico’s antitrust body CFC has given the green light to mobile giant América Móvil (NYSE: AMX) to take control of its sister companies, Mexican fixed line operator Telmex (NYSE: TMX) and regional operator Telmex Internacional (NYSE: TII) (Telint), CFC said on its website.
Following a meeting on Thursday (Feb 11), CFC said that as Telmex and América Móvil’s local unit Telcel are part of the same economic group, market competition would not be significantly affected.
Last month, América Móvil said it would offer to exchange 2.0474 of its shares for one share in Carso Global Telecom, which controls 59.4% of Telmex and 60.7% of Telint.
The company will also seek to exchange or buy 39.3% of Telint shares that are not in the hands of Carso, offering 0.373 of its own shares or 11.66 pesos for every Telint share. “The operation notified by Telmex and Telcel is …
America Movil Set to Become King of Mobile in Brazil
December 16th, 2009América Móvil’s (NYSE: AMX) Brazilian mobile operator Claro is expected to jump to the number one position in the local market within 3-5 years, displacing the current market leader, Vivo (NYSE: VIV), investment bank Barclays Capital reported in an equity research commentary.
“If you look at the last few years, Claro Brasil has gained a lot of market share, especially if you adjust for the acquisitions that have been made over the years,” Barclays senior research analyst Michel Morin told BNamericas. “In 2005, Vivo had 40% of the market and Claro had 22%. Moving forward to 2009, Vivo has approximately 28% and Claro was at about 26%. América Móvil has added about 4 percentage points [pp] of market share, while Vivo has lost a lot.”
Further, when taking a harder look at the details, Claro has been growing faster in the postpaid segment, Morin noted, “so not only have they …
Dell Joins with America Movil to Sell Mobile Handsets in Brazil
November 13th, 2009Dell has finally confirmed what has been bouncing around the market for some time, that it is entering the smartphone business.
It’s not saying very much about its strategy, other than that it is using Google’s Android operating system. (That, in itself, confirms what is becoming clear about Android: That it is now the Windows of cellphones, the operating system for hardware companies that don’t write their own operating systems.)
What Dell is doing is not starting by fighting head-to-head with Samsung, HTC, Motorola (not to mention Apple and Research in Motion) in the United States. Rather it debuting its products in two big developing markets where, presumably, its core strength in delivering generic technology cheaply will be valued.
Dell said it will distribute its first Android handset, the Mini 3, through China Mobile, the largest phone company in the world, with half a billion customers. In Brazil, …
Carlos Slim and the Future of Pay TV in the Caribbean
April 14th, 2009A few months ago it was rescuing the New York Times with a massive financing package. This month Carlos Slim, owner of América Móvil, is reportedly eying the purchase of Columbus Communications, which owns and operates an undersea cable throughout the Caribbean and also acts as an ISP and cable provider. Columbus owns more than 90% of the ARCOS (Americas Region Caribbean Optical-ring System), which connects 24 locations throughout the Caribbean.
Slim likes what he sees in the Caribbean
If the deal goes through, Slim would solidify his position as the largest telecom provider in the Caribbean. Signals Telecom Consulting analyst Jose Otero tells BNamericas: “Besides strengthening its presence in Jamaica, the operator would also establish a strong presence as a pay TV provider in the Bahamas, Grenada and …
WorldNet, a competitive telecom provider in Puerto Rico had the courage to build out an all-IP facilities-based infrastructure AND the cojones to go up against one of the most powerful telecom titans in this hemisphere,
Telecom competition is beginnning to heat up in Puerto Rico
Carlos Slim (owner of incumbent PRT). Carol Wilson, chief editor of Telephony magazine, tells the WorldNet story which includes building out fiber-to-the-home and broadband wireless. Services on top of these spanking new networks are in demand in what many people are describing as “technology-crazed” Puerto Rico. With an IP MPLS backbone, WorldNet is positioned to offer hosted services for businesses.
“Today we feel like we are turning a corner, and we’re at the point where we stop worrying about whether we have a reliable …
