--Mexican billionaire says market share reflects consumer
preference
--Some lawmakers, officials want America Movil excluded from 4G
auction
--Slim says exclusion would deny new technology to 29.5 million
users
By Dan Molinski
BOGOTA--Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, on a visit Friday to
Colombia, rejected claims by lawmakers in Bogota that his
telecommunications firm America Movil SAB (AMX, AMX.MX) needs to be
reined in and regulated because it has gained too dominant a
position in the country's wireless sector.
America Movil is Latin America's biggest wireless phone service
provider, and the company's third-largest market is Colombia, where
it commands a 60% market share, while a couple of competitors
including Spain's Telefonica SA (TEF) share the other 40%.
"In terms of a monopoly, in any economic activity in which two
or three firms are competing, one has to be bigger than the other,"
Mr. Slim told reporters at the seaside, colonial city of Cartagena.
"The fact that one [company] has a bigger share is a result of
customer preference."
The debate over America Movil's share of Colombia's wireless
market--it had less than 50% of the market when it arrived in
Colombia at the end of the 1990s--has become a hot topic recently
as the government prepares to auction spectrum for fourth
generation, or 4G, mobile service. These 4G licenses will allow
smartphones to work faster and sound better.
Some Colombian lawmakers and government officials want America
Movil to be excluded from the auction as a way of regulating the
industry and reducing what they say is Mr. Slim's near-monopoly
control of Colombian wireless industry.
Mr. Slim said if the Colombian government excludes his firm from
the 4G auction, it would hurt the country's reputation as a
supporter of free markets and competition.
"There have to be clear rules in these countries," he said. "I
don't think [excluding America Movil] is an alternative because I
don't believe 29.5 million customers [America Movil's share of
Colombia's 47 million wireless users] should be denied access to
new technology."
Officials weren't available for comment at Colombia's Ministry
of Information and Communications Technology, which is overseeing
the 4G bidding round, expected to take place in the first half of
2013.
America Movil's chief executive, Daniel Hajj, addressed similar
concerns about the firm's position in Colombia during a conference
call with analysts Friday morning.
"What you need is investment, and to have those investments the
country needs certainty, legal security, and if you have those
things then the investments are going to come," he said.
Mr. Hajj also criticized unnamed parties who, he said, would
seek to increase their market share in Colombia through regulation
rather than investment.
America Movil's main competitor in Colombia, Telefonica, which
operates under the local brand name Movistar, has less than a 30%
market share. It is also partially owned by the Colombian
government.
Other America Movil competitors in Colombia include Tigo, owned
by Luxembourg-based Millicom International, and Empresas Publicas
de Medellin, or EPM, a government-owned firm that operates under
the brand name UNE.
UNE has a tiny market share, but is the only wireless firm to
have already flipped the 4G switch in some parts of the
country.
--Anthony Harrup contributed to this article.
Write to Dan Molinski at dan.molinski@dowjones.com
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