Carlos Slim closer to entering Mexico’s television market

MEXICO CITY -- Carlos Slim’s telecommunications empire, Telmex, is poised to get a new shot at realizing its long-held goal of entering Mexico’s television market after a regulatory board this week approved rules that may allow the world’s richest man to launch a for-pay TV channel.

Mexico’s television market is almost completely dominated by the duopoly of media giant Televisa and TV Azteca, which together control about 95% of what viewers see and hear on the country’s airwaves.

On Wednesday, the congressional regulatory watchdog known by its Spanish acronym, Cofetel, sent rules to its executive-level counterpart that would settle Telmex’s dispute with smaller telephone service providers over interconnection fees. Those charges are reflected in the extra pesos that customers pay when calling from one phone network to another.

This week’s regulatory move happened largely under the radar in the public eye but was seen by financial news outlets in Mexico as a bargaining chip for Telmex and its ambitions for television (link in Spanish). America Movil, the Telmex telecom branch that hopes to start a for-pay TV cable channel via Internet, now must resubmit its bid after a separate judicial-level ruling came down last week.

Under the government of former President Felipe Calderon, Slim’s desires to compete with Televisa and TV Azteca were tied up in dense regulatory appeals and negotiations. Opening up the market was further hindered by Mexico’s fractious Congress.

The new government of President Enrique Peña Nieto, whose party is now the largest parliamentary group in Mexico’s legislative branch, has yet to roll out its telecommunications reform package. But Peña Nieto has already indicated that he hopes his government can open concessions for at least two new channels on Mexico’s airwaves.

Peña Nieto said the issue is about increasing “competition� at all levels in Mexico.

Televisa’s dominance of Mexico’s airwaves became a campaign issue in the 2012 presidential election after the grass-roots student movement known as #YoSoy132 held large-scale demonstrations opposing candidate Peña Nieto and Televisa at large. Protesters decried his Institutional Revolutionary Party’s cozy relationship with the network, claiming Televisa favored him over his rivals on the left and right.

Peña Nieto is married to a former Televisa telenovela actress. His party has a history of being allied with Televisa and its top tiers of executives and producers.

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