Posted on 03/20/2013 6:59:00 PM PDT by JerseyanExile
Mexico's government has threatened the country's telecommunications giants with forced asset sales, unveiling a plan to loosen billionaire Carlos Slim's hold on the telephone market and curb broadcaster Televisa's dominance of the airwaves.
The long-awaited bill seeks to shake up the telecoms sector by allowing increased foreign ownership of media and phone companies, and giving regulators the power to make players controlling more than 50 percent of the market sell assets.
"The purpose of these measures is to free up the sector's potential, and do it as quickly as possible," President Enrique Pena Nieto said as he presented the plan on Monday.
Previous governments have failed to curb the power of Mexico's telecoms and media tycoons, and fostering more competition in the industry is seen as a crucial yardstick of the new government's ability to unlock the economy's potential.
Slim, the world's richest man, dominates Mexico's telecommunications market, controlling about 70 percent of its mobile market and 80 percent of its fixed phone lines.
Televisa, controlled by tycoon Emilio Azcarraga, has about 60 percent of the broadcast market.
The bill stipulates that any company with a market share exceeding 50 percent will be deemed dominant.
A dominant player may be subject to sanctions including possible forced asset disposals, the proposal said. It also seeks to curb the ability of companies to suspend legal rulings against them while they appeal decisions.
Limits on foreign ownership of fixed-line assets would be eliminated under the bill. It also envisages allowing foreign investors to take up to 49 percent ownership of TV or radio broadcasters, pending a review by a foreign investment commission.
In the television market, the bill aims to increase competition by auctioning rights to run two new television channels, a process that will not be open to the two most powerful...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Ping
I wonder who Slim pissed off or didn’t contribute enough to in the last election? Nieto?
40% or more is dominant and I’m amazed they passed this bill. It must not work as planned or the other oligarchs want their piece of that action.
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