LIMA -(Dow Jones)- A committee in Peru's Congress said late Thursday that it voted to approve a bill that it says could prohibit Telefonica Moviles SAC's purchase of BellSouth Peru SA.
BellSouth Corp.(BLS) has sold the wireless operations to a unit of Telefonica SA (TEF), which will give it about 73% of the mobile phone market.
Congress' Consumer Protection and Public Services Regulatory Agency Committee said in a statement that two articles of the nation's Constitution impede any mergers or corporate acquisitions that would give the new company a dominant market position that could restrict competition.
The committee is led by Congressman Yonhy Lescano, who has been a staunch critic of the telecommunications industry.
The committee said in a statement that the full Congress is expected to examine the bill after it reconvenes in March.
The mobile telephone market has expanded strongly in the last decade in Peru, growing to more than 3 million users.
There are two other operators in the market, although Peru's privatization agency, ProInversion, has approved the bidding requirements for a public auction of a fourth mobile telephone band.
-Robert Kozak, Dow Jones Newswires; 511-221-7050; peru@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 28th January 2005
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/11843.php