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Mexico regulator fines Telmex for monopolistic practices(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mexico City, Oct 1 (EFE).- Mexico's telecommunications regulator, known as the IFT, said it has imposed a 49.3-million-peso ($3.6-million) fine on fixed-line operator Telmex for monopolistic practices. In a statement, the IFT said Telmex, a unit of multi-billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil, committed a "very serious" infraction by ignoring competitor Axtel's requests to interconnect with its long-distance network. The fine was the maximum allowable by law, the regulator said, noting that the company's behavior hurts competition in the long-distance sector and "adversely affects services of public interest." Telmex, which has a roughly 80 percent share of Mexico's fixed-line market, also did not provide information about the location of offices that service sparsely populated areas without an interconnection link. Finally, it said Telmex played recorded messages on Axtel customers' long-distance calls aimed at discouraging demand for its competitor's services. The improper conduct was deliberate and intended to displace Axtel as a competitor in the long-distance telephony market, the regulator said. The decision was adopted at a meeting on Sept. 3 but was not made public until Tuesday after both parties were notified. The IFT, created as part of a telecommunications and broadcast media overhaul proposed by President Enrique Peña Nieto's administration and approved last year, in March declared Telmex and America Movil's local wireless unit, Telcel, "preponderant economic agents" in their respective markets. As part of that tag, those companies are subject to asymmetric regulation to avoid market distortion. America Movil said this summer it is prepared to divest assets to bring its share of Mexico's telecommunications market below 50 percent to shed its market-dominant label and accompanying heavy regulatory burden. EFE jrm/mc (c) 2014 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc. |