Post by ukipa on Jan 31, 2012 19:27:03 GMT 4
Mexicans Overpaid Slim-Led Phone Industry $13 Billion a Year
January 31, 2012, 1:45 AM EST
By Crayton Harrison
Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico’s phone industry, dominated by billionaire Carlos Slim’s carriers, overcharged customers $13.4 billion a year from 2005 to 2009, hurting the nation’s economy, according to a report.
The excess fees combined with the potential loss of business caused by high prices equaled 1.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said today in a report.
Latin America’s second-biggest economy should eliminate restrictions on foreign investment in telecommunications and should strengthen the powers of its phone regulator, the OECD said. The 70 percent market share of Slim’s America Movil SAB in the mobile-phone business is “extremely high,” the OECD said.
Mexico “needs the socioeconomic boost provided by greater access to more efficient communication services, in particular high-speed broadband,” the OECD said. Mexico had 10.5 high- speed Internet subscriptions per 100 habitants at the end of 2010, placing it 32nd among the 34 OECD member countries and less than half the average of about 25, the report showed.
America Movil is reviewing the documents, said an official who can’t be named under company policy.
The company’s Telefonos de Mexico SAB fixed-line unit said Mexico’s broadband adoption is fifth among OECD countries when measured against GDP per capita. Mexico has the lowest per- capita GDP among the group of nations, the unit said in a statement.
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www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-31/mexicans-overpaid-slim-led-phone-industry-13-billion-a-year.html