Mexicans overcharged billions for phone, web: study

Mexicans have been overcharged $13.4 billion a year for phone and internet services as the industry dominated by billionaire Carlos Slim gouges customers and keeps the economy from growing.

Mexico, the second-largest economy in Latin America, cannot reach its growth potential until the cost of phone and internet access comes down and more people have easy access to telecom services, a report from the Organization for Co-operation and Development said. From 2005 to 2009, Mexican consumers paid $13.4 billion a year excess for phone and internet services, with high fees disproportionately hitting the poor, according to the report. In total, overcharging cost the economy $129 billion over the five-year period, the report found, nearly 2 percent of the country's economic output.