By Miguel Gutierrez
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Congress on Tuesday gave overwhelming final approval to an expansive overhaul of the telecommunications sector, which aims to boost competition in the industry and tame the likes of billionaire Carlos Slim and broadcaster Televisa.
The bill encourages more foreign investment in the telecoms industry and gives regulators the power to stop companies from controlling more than 50 percent of the market, a measure aimed directly at telecoms tycoon Slim and Televisa.
But forced asset sales will not be automatic if companies are declared dominant by the competition regulator.
The telecoms overhaul is part of President Enrique Pena Nieto's wider economic reform agenda. He is set to present major tax and energy sector revamps later this year, though the Mexican leader must first settle a political spat with the main opposition parties.
Slim's phone company, America Movil, controls some 80 percent of the fixed line business in Mexico and about 70 percent of its mobile market. Televisa has more than 60 percent of the TV market.
The legislation mandates the creation of a new regulator known as Ifetel to oversee the telecoms market. It also outlines the shape of a new federal competition commission, which will regulate all other areas.
Companies that are fined or told to sell off assets by the new federal competition commission would have the right to lodge appeals to suspend these decisions, a tactic companies have used to fight competition rulings.
However, Televisa and America Movil will be subject to Ifetel, not the federal competition commission, hampering any efforts to contest regulatory rulings.
The measure, which was first presented by Pena Nieto last month, won nearly unanimous approval from the Senate, with 108 votes in favor and three against.
Uncertainty over the final details of the bill has been dragging on the share prices of America Movil and Televisa.
(Writing by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Simon Gardner and Paul Simao)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mexico-congress-gives-final-approval-sweeping-telecom-reform-183755857.html
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It’s only a matter of time before Twitter releases its own Google Glass app, as Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr dropped the hint that the company was looking into building one during this month’s Glass Collective announcement. A tweet from an official Twitter Glass app has been spotted, interestingly enough by the gentleman who brought you the first unofficial Twitter app, GlassTweet. The user that it came from had no information in their bio when I looked at the profile, but it has since been deleted, along with the tweet below: You’ll notice the “Twitter for Glass” label, which denotes which app the tweet came from. That, coupled with the fact that the account has since been deleted, shows that somebody might have let the cat, or Glass, out of the bag a little too early. I reached out to Twitter, but the company provided us with no statement or comment on its intentions for Glass. It will be interesting to see what an actual Twitter Glass experience will be, as I can’t imagine that anyone would want to see every single tweet from their stream pass before their eye. I could see the utility of getting direct messages, perhaps replies and mentions and most certainly sharing pics and videos. Expect to see a lot of Glass apps popping up from companies like Twitter and Facebook in the next few months, as the companies are trying to figure out how best to tap into a device that could increase usage and let users share a brand new perspective with media. The example that I always use with people is that Glass will be really fun at a concert or other live event, where I don’t have to take a phone out of my pocket and remove myself from the situation. It will be natural to snap a shot without disrupting my field of vision and attention. [Photo credit: Flickr]
Spring semester saw the launch of Golf Fore Veterans, a program for student veterans with disabilities. Undergrad Jessica Adams joined with a number of campus and community partners ? among them Fitness for All, the National Alliance for Accessible Golf,? the U.S. Golf Association and Cal Athletics? women?s golf team ? to create the class, held weekly on the Tilden Golf Course.