Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Carlos Slim's Telefonos de Mexico SAB, the largest fixed-line telephone company in Mexico, plans to spin off the faster-growing operations it has elsewhere in Latin America.

The new company, called Telmex International, will include carriers in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, according to a statement today. Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, is based in Mexico City.

By spinning off the business, Slim, 67, is seeking to unlock the value of the faster-growing part of his company. The plan mimics a 2000 move to turn Telmex's mobile-phone operations into America Movil SAB. Today, that business' $105 billion market value is more than three times Telmex's.

``The growth is in the international business,'' said Manuel Jimenez Zaldivar, an analyst at IXE Grupo Financiero SA in Mexico City. ``Separately, they may reflect a higher value, just like what happened when they spun off America Movil.''

Telmex has fallen 5.9 percent in past six months, underperforming the Mexican benchmark stock index, which was down 0.4 percent in the period. America Movil gained 11 percent. Telmex's stock gained 0.8 percent today to 18.49 pesos.

The plan also may insulate the non-Mexican part of the business from increasing antitrust pressure. Telmex, a former national monopoly that Slim purchased in 1990 from the government, has about 90 percent of Mexico's phone lines, and regulators in Mexico want to curb its dominance.

Government Probe

Mexico's antitrust agency, the Federal Competition Commission, plans to start an investigation into Telmex and America Movil to identify markets where their market share is large enough special regulation may be needed to encourage entrants. The probe may start by the end of the year.

Telmex also plans to shake up its domestic operations. Telmex said it will split the Mexican business into a unit that serves higher-income consumers and faces competition, and one that serves rural areas and faces no competition.

America Movil is Latin America's third-largest company by market value after oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA and mining company Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, both from Brazil.

Telmex International will trade in Mexico and in the U.S., Telmex said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Adriana Arai in Mexico City at aarai1@bloomberg.net; William Freebairn in Mexico City wfreebairn@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 14, 2007 20:07 EST