Having backed away from acquiring a Spanish mobile licence three years ago, the owner of America Movil, Carlos Slim, has again declared an interest in entering the Spanish market.
Speaking at a press conference in New York, Slim said that his company had an interest in participating in the Spanish telecoms market under the right conditions. This renewed attention to the European sector, according to industry observers, is likely driven by investigations by Mexican authorities into antitrust activities in the fixed-line and wireless markets. Slim's America Movil is used by over 70 per cent of wireless subscribers in Mexico.
Spain's former state phone company Telefonica is Slim's main competitor in Latin America (albeit a distant second), where it has wireless and fixed-line operations in most of the region's major markets. However, the revelation that it might have a new--and aggressive, competitor, in its home market is a distraction Telefonica does not need given its ambitions to expand into other regions.
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