Mexico telecom reform nears reality

Mexico’s Senate passed a reform bill that stands to shake up the country’s telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, introducing more competition and creating investment opportunities for foreign companies.

Approval of the reform, which came only after a marathon all-night session, marks an important victory for the new administration of centrist President Enrique Peña Nieto as it tries to lift Mexico’s annual growth rate towards 6 percent a year from about 3.5 percent now. Economists have long seen the two sectors, which are dominated by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim’s América Móvil, and broadcaster Televisa, as prime examples of how the relative lack of competition hurts growth and drives up prices. Senators appeared to weaken the bill that was approved weeks before by the lower house, allowing companies to stall, pending appeal, the application of fines or other orders from the country’s antitrust authority. However, they will not be able to stall fines or other measures handed out by the new regulator, which the new legislation would create.