America Movil revealed on Tuesday it is under investigation by Mexican watchdog Ifetel on grounds that the partnership between its fixed-line unit Telmex and satellite TV provider Dish may have breached multiple regulations.
America Movil’s over-the-top (OTT) TV service Uno TV is also under investigation.
The development will come as a blow to the telecoms giant, which was nearing the end of an 18-month compliance period after which it would have been permitted to apply for a TV licence.
Dish and Telmex established a partnership in 2008 that enabled the latter to issue a single bill for broadband and TV services to customers. Rivals including Grupo Televisa complained that it broke rules preventing America Movil from offering TV services.
A similar row broke out when America Movil launched its over-the-top (OTT) video service Uno TV, also in 2008.
America Movil said the investigation by Ifetel, also known as IFT, centres on whether Telmex’s Dish tie-up and its Uno TV service violated those rules. Ifetel is also looking into whether America Movil is in breach of its "must carry" rule governing the retransmission of TV broadcast signals via other operators.
America Movil and Telmex are "currently analysing the scope and legal grounds of the alleged violations in order to participate in such proceedings and, as the case may be, exercise applicable legal remedies," said America Movil, in a statement.
In January this year, Ifetel imposed fines of 14.4 million pesos (€741,000) on Telmex and MXN43 million on Dish Mexico for not disclosing the full extent of their commercial agreement.
Under the terms of the partnership, America Movil had an option to acquire a 51% stake in Dish Mexico, an option it subsequently waived in July 2014. However, Ifetel said that the companies failed to disclose what effectively amounted to a merger when the deal was first struck in 2008.
