The stock of America Movil SAB de CV (ADR) (NYSE:AMX) closed at $18.52 losing 0.22% in yesterday’s trading session. Recently, Argentina’s National Communications Agency (Enacom) gave the Mexican telecom behemoth approval to enter into the pay-TV market. At the moment, the company has already set up both wireline and wireless operators in Argentina.
Sometime back, a ban had been placed on most of the telecom operators to compel them to stop providing pay-TV service in Argentina.
However, the government’s initiation of the crucial regulatory changes has resulted in large number operators in Argentina altering their status to foray the pay-TV space. The receiving of the regulatory approval from Enacom will move quite a long way towards allowing the company freely provide audio-visual services through diverse platforms on top of fixed voice, mobile and broadband services.
The incumbent telecom operators namely, Telecom Argentina SA (ADR) (NYSE:TEO) and Telefonica S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TEF) have also delved into the pay-TV zone of Argentina. Moreover, T satellite-TV wing DirecTV which belongs to AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) has already started providing mobile broadband services and pay-TV in the country.
Carlos Slim, owner of America Movil recently held a meeting with the Argentine president Mauricio Macri. Their main goal was to assess the possible investment opportunities in the country. The materializing of the deal will mean a lot of good things for the giant company. For instance, it might end up acquiring a stake in the Refefo Federal Fibre-Optic Network.
A top analyst opines, “America Movil is facing intense competitive pressure in Mexico. In 2014, the government of Mexico had introduced reforms within its telecommunications sector. The country’s telecom regulator, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), seeks to restrict the maximum hold of a company in the market to 50%.”
There are numerous ongoing reforms at the moment, one of them being the ban placed on America Movil by IFT to stop charging the national roaming fees. Asides from that, the company is also expected to start sharing its infrastructure with other operators in the country.
