04/18/11— Mexico’s Federal Competitive Commission Agency has imposed a $1 billion dollar fine on the Mexican unit of América Móvil, Telcel, claiming that it has been engaging in monopolistic practices that have resulted in call terminations. The company is controlled by Carlos Slim Helu, a billionaire and the richest man in the world according to Fortune Magazine. It is one of his largest companies. América Móvil also has about 275 million subscribers across Latin America. According to the Latin American Herald Tribune, “in December 2010, América Móvil had 225 million cellphone subscribers, 28.4 million fixed-line customers, 13 million broadband subscribers and 10.1 million pay TV customers across the region.” In 2009 its revenue totaled $30 billion.
In a statement released by América Móvil, the company believes the fine to be a result of probings that began in 2006, but did not go into details about the investigations. In recent months, América Móvil has come into dispute with Televisa and TV Azteca, who accuse América Móvil of charging high interconnection rates due to their near monopoly power. In turn, América Móvil accuses Televisa and TV Azteca of their duopoly over broadcast television, which is not allowing them to enter Mexico’s pay TV market.
Sources:
Associated Press. “Cell Firm in Mexico Fined $1 Billion.” New York Times. April 17, 2011.
Harrup, Anthony. “America Movil Gets Antitrust Fine.” Wall Street Journal. April 16, 2011.
