Mexico's telecom regulator IFT has ordered America Movil to create a new company to manage the infrastructure of its Telmex unit with a view to offering equality of access to its rivals. The ruling follows Telmex’s unsuccessful appeal against a 2014 ruling by the IFT declaring it a "dominant agent" in the telecommunications sector. In a statement, America Movil confirmed that it had received a resolution relating to the regulator’s evaluation of the asymmetrical regulations first imposed on the group’s Mexican units in March 2014.
America Movil said the IFT ordered a “functional separation” of Telmex’s fixed line retail and wholesale divisions with a view to boosting competition. In that regard, the telecom giant will be required to incorporate “a legal entity independent from Telmex-Telnor that will exclusively provide wholesale services related to local loop and shared access and use of passive infrastructure."
However, America Movil said it would challenge the resolution in accordance with applicable law on grounds that it isn’t based on a full evaluation of the terms of competition and that it fails to consider the profound changes in the Mexican telecommunications sector in the three years since asymmetric regulations were imposed.
