Slim’s telecoms arm, América Móvil, which owns cable TV arm Telmex, has been trying to break into the Mexican TV market for the past year, and could now be made to wait until December, when Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s President elect takes office.
While Telmex could get hold of a licence by early next year, a court battle could stretch into 2014 for Slim’s company to offer pay TV services, according to Reuters.
The country’s Communications and Transport Ministry (STC) said its appeals court threw out an injunction filed by Telmex, which operates as the largest phone and internet provider. It is thought the ruling means the company will have to reapply for a TV licence.
Nieto, who was confirmed as election winner today, has vowed to increase competition in the Mexican communications industry. His administration will now have to deal with Slim’s pay TV ambitions in Mexico.
The STC rejected Telmex’s bid for pay TV in May 2011, on the grounds that it did not provide competitors with fair access. Slim otherwise dominates the pay TV market in Latin America, and controls 70% and 80% of Mexico’s mobile and fixed-line business respectively.
