Mexico moves to end telecom monopolies

Mexico's government introduced a draft constitutional reform Monday to end monopolies in telecoms industries that have built some of the country's biggest fortunes.

The plan to improve fairness in some of Mexico's most lucrative industries seeks to foster competition in cable television, telephone and Internet service provider (ISP) services.

The plan would put an end to Mexico's telephone monopoly that is controlled by Carlos Slim, the world's richest individual according to Forbes, and concentrated control over broadcast television and cable, which is dominated by Televisa, owned by Emilio Azcarraga.

We want to "strengthen the state's role as a guiding force, the legal framework for these businesses and regulatory capacity, to encourage growth in a context of fair competition," said Transport and Communications Minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza.

In Mexico's phone industry, Slim's Telmex has 90 percent of landline accounts and his Telcel 70 percent of mobile accounts. Televisa controls 70 percent of broadcast TV and 60 percent of cable television accounts.

The reform also would create a Federal Telecommunications Institute as a regulatory body, taking that authority away from the presidency.

(c) 2013 AFP