America Movil's Telcel To Cut Interconnection Rates Through 2014
November 17 2011 - 1:38PM
Dow Jones News
Telcel, a unit of Mexico's largest mobile-phone operator,
America Movil SAB (AMX, AMX.MX), said Thursday it has reached an
agreement with a number of fixed-line and mobile carriers to reduce
the amount it charges to complete incoming calls on its network,
with further reductions planned through 2014.
Telcel said in a press release that under the agreement with NII
Holdings Inc.'s (NIHD) Nextel unit, its own fixed-line unit
Telefonos de Mexico SAB (TMX, TELMEX.MX), and fixed-line operator
Marcatel, it will charge 39 Mexican cents, or about 3 U.S. cents,
per minute in 2011, lowering that gradually to just under 31
Mexican cents in 2014.
The agreement also includes billing calls by the second instead
of rounding up to the next minute, which leads to an effective
average reduction of about 22% a year, the company said. With the
elimination of rounding, the effective mobile termination rates
will fall from 30 Mexican cents in 2011 to 24 Mexican cents in
2014, Telcel added.
The rate for 2011 is the same one that telecommunications
regulator Cofetel imposed earlier this year, the application of
which was enforced by a Supreme Court ruling. That decision had
slashed the rate from the 95 Mexican cents that Telcel had been
charging.
"The interconnection rates agreed on are the lowest among
members of the OECD [Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development] and are among the lowest in the world," Telcel said.
The company added that the agreed rates will be extended to all
fixed and mobile operators that terminate calls on its network.
Telcel, which had 68 million mobile subscribers at the end of
September, is Mexico's largest wireless service provider with about
a 70% market share by subscribers.
-By Anthony Harrup, Dow Jones Newswires; (5255) 5980-5176,
anthony.harrup@dowjones.com
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