AT&T’s Mexico move gets regulatory approval

It looks like things are set to get a whole lot more competitive for Carlos Slim, the man who currently dominates the Mexican telco market. US giant AT&T has had its bid to buy the country’s third largest operator - Iusacell - approved by the Mexican telco regulator.

Scott Bicheno

December 23, 2014

1 Min Read
AT&T’s Mexico move gets regulatory approval
The Mexican regulator seemed keep to get this deal through

It looks like things are set to get a whole lot more competitive for Carlos Slim, the man who currently dominates the Mexican telco market. US giant AT&T has had its bid to buy the country’s third largest operator – Iusacell – approved by the Mexican telco regulator.

For the deal to complete Grupo Salinas, which currently only owns half of Iusacell, would need to buy out its JV partner Televisa. The regulator also gave that move the all clear in its ruling so it should be all clear for AT&T to complete the move now.

AT&T first announced the move a month and a half ago, so other regulators might want to be aware that decisions such as this don’t always have to take several months. Iusacell is currently the third largest mobile operator, by subscription, in Mexico, according to Ovum’s WCIS service. It has around 9 million subscribers, behind Movistar with 20 million and Carlos Slim’s Telcel with 70 million.

The approval may have been hastened by the hostile regulatory environment faced by Carlos Slim’s América Móvil, which owns Telcel. Back in July Slim announced he would dispose of some América Móvil assets to reduce its dominance of the Mexican market and get the regulator of its back. Inevitably Slim has dragged his feet somewhat since then, and the regulator is probably happy that he is facing increased competition via another route.

AT&T, of course, has deep pockets and can spend on both marketing and improved infrastructure. If Telcel is still to be broken up the arrival of international companies with the ability to invest should liven the Mexican mobile market up considerably.

About the Author

Scott Bicheno

As the Editorial Director of Telecoms.com, Scott oversees all editorial activity on the site and also manages the Telecoms.com Intelligence arm, which focuses on analysis and bespoke content.
Scott has been covering the mobile phone and broader technology industries for over ten years. Prior to Telecoms.com Scott was the primary smartphone specialist at industry analyst Strategy Analytics’. Before that Scott was a technology journalist, covering the PC and telecoms sectors from a business perspective.
Follow him @scottbicheno

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