Reuters | February 4, 2011 | Cyntia Barrera Diaz
Telcel, the commercial brand of tycoon Carlos Slim’s cell phone giant America Movil, proposed new, lower fees for its rivals to connect to the company’s massive network in Mexico on Friday.
The fees that Telcel charges to other companies using its telecommunications installations have in the past triggered complaints from smaller players to competition authorities.
Telcel said in Mexico’s Official Gazette on Friday that its offer is extended to all Mexico-based providers of fixed-line and mobile phone services as well as those in the long distance business.
America Movil is Latin America’s leading provider of cell phone services and Slim, the world’s richest man, has spent years building up cables, antennas, and switchboards across the country. His companies lead the fixed-line and mobile phone markets.
Telcel’s network covers the country’s main cities as well as hard-to-reach regional areas. While other competitors have purchased some fiber optic and wireless spectrum in recent years, most of them have to use Slim’s infrastructure at some point to generate, transport of finish communications.
Several companies have said the fees charged to use Slim’s network are high, making it more difficult for them to make a profit.
Mexico’s anti-trust watchdog launched in recent years several probes into alleged abuses by some companies in the way they charge rivals to originate, transport or finish calls on their networks.
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