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World’s richest man eyes Canadian wireless market:

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Thursday, May 19, 2011
World’s richest man eyes Canadian wireless market: report
May 19, 2011 | 12:07
Stefania Moretti |Money
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The world’s richest man has his sights set on Canadian cellphone users, according to a leading telecommunications analyst.
America Movil, headed up by Mexican multi-billionaire Carlos Slim, is likely interested in entering Canada, UBS Securities analyst Phillip Huang said in a note Thursday.

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim REUTERS/Henry Romero
“Based on our analysis, we believe America Movil remains interested in entering the Canadian wireless market, a venture that America Movil has been considering for some time now.”
“We believe America Movil is principally interested in entering Canada as a mobile virtual network operator by extending its popular no-frills prepaid services in the U.S. north of the border.”
To operate in this way, Slim wouldn’t need his own licensed frequency allocation. Instead, he could team up with an existing provider.
Huang thinks America Movil may have already approached an incumbent.
“We expect America Movil to push for aggressive wholesale rates. While America Movil may also consider arrangements with the new entrants, we believe this is less desirable/less likely.”
An America Movil presence in Canada poses both risks and rewards for the incumbents including BCE Inc. Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Corp, Huang said. America Movil’s partner would benefit from higher returns on assets and funds to deploy next-generation LTE networks.
“In fact, we argue America Movil could serve as a less disruptive ‘fighting brand’ for the incumbents than their own flanker brands in competing with the new entrants.”
The losers in this case would be the new entrants, Huang said, presumably referring to companies like Wind Mobile, Mobilicity and Public Mobile.
Foreign ownership in Canada’s telecom market is already a hot topic and is under review in Ottawa. Egyptian-backed Globalive and the federal government appeared in a Federal Court of Appeal Wednesday arguing that former Industry Minister Tony Clement had every right to allow Globalive’s Wind Mobile to launch in Canada more than a year ago. Competitors Public Mobile and Telus Corp. don’t agree and took the issue to court.
Forbes magazine estimates Slim is worth $74 billion, with 62% of his fortunes coming from America Movil.
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https://money.canoe.ca/money/business/canada/archives/2011/05/20110519-120715.html