Telecoms magnate Carlos Slim has hit out at political pressure being exerted on America Movil (AMX) in Colombia.
A group of senators have suggested AMX’s market share should be capped, while a draft plan for the country’s upcoming 4G auction suggested…
Telecoms magnate Carlos Slim has hit out at political pressure being exerted on America Movil (AMX) in Colombia.
A group of senators have suggested AMX’s market share should be capped, while a draft plan for the country’s upcoming 4G auction suggested that Slim’s operator should be barred from bidding for the spectrum licences.
Colombia’s wireless market is the second most concentrated in the region, after Mexico, with Slim’s Claro brand enjoying a market share of 61.34% of subscribers.
However, Slim defended his dominance on a trip to the country telling media that when only a few players were competing in a market it was natural for one company to be bigger than the others.
Slim was also cited as saying that if AMX was blocked from participating in the upcoming 4G auction it would damage Colombia’s reputation in terms of free market competition. He added that barring it from the auction would be unfair on Claro’s 29.5 million subscribers as it would deny them the latest technology.
The 72-year-old tycoon went on to say that countries had to have clear rules to attract investors and, according to a Bloomberg report, dangled the carrot of a US$1bn network investment in 2013 if Claro would receive a 4G licence.
Earlier in October two senators had proposed a draft bill that called for reform in Colombia’s telecoms sector arguing that AMX was too dominant. Among their suggestions was a cap on operators that would prohibit telcos from controling more than 30% of the market. Claro would be the only player affected by such a cap. The proposal suggests that the operator would be given two years to fall in line with the guidelines.
A separate early draft of a plan for auctioning 4G licences excluded AMX from the tender.
The operator’s two principal Colombian competitors are Telefonica’s Movistar, with 25.81% market share, and Colombia Movil’s Tigo, with 12.68%.
