Enrique Yamuni, CEO of Megacable, described as “ridiculous” that América Móvil tried to impress with investments to enter the pay television segment in the country, and argued that the company controlled by Carlos Slim “is the one that invests the least in the telecommunications”.
“First of all, the amount they announced for Mexico [of 8,000 million pesos if América Móvil obtained authorization from the regulator to enter the segment] is ridiculous. I mean, that’s where they try to impress with that figure, when América Móvil has been the company that has invested proportionally the least amount of money in CapEx in the last five years, of any other telecommunications company. If they thought that with an offer they would obtain their authorization, that is ridiculous”, assured the CEO of Megacable with a conference with analysts.
In days gone by, to implement its restricted television business, as long as the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT) grants its long-awaited concession to enter this segment.
However, the regulator decided to vote against the draft resolution for Claro TV’s entry into pay television, although this resolution does not prevent América Móvil from once again requesting a concession for the segment.
For Yamuni, if América Móvil obtains its license to offer restricted television services, it will make them more advantageous over their sales competitors in the industry.
For this reason, he urged the IFT to review the preponderance measures assigned to América Móvil, in order to improve the competitive environment of the telecommunications sector in the country and “then they should make them comply with those rules, that is our opinion on the matter. I think we’re fine the way we are right now.”
“I don’t think they should get it, because they have so much power in the market, whether it’s measured by revenue or by number of customers… I think it’s still a very, very preponderant player,” he said.
According to data from the consulting firm The Ciu, in 2020, the telecommunications industry invested a total of 80.2 billion pesos in infrastructure, which represents an increase of 24.95% compared to 2019.
The investment participation of América Móvil, the preponderant economic agent in the telecommunications sector, was 25%, while it receives 59.5% of the total income of the industry. In addition, in the last seven years, América Móvil’s participation in infrastructure injection went from 55.4% to only 25%.
