Carlos Slim's Telmex Plans to Quadruple Internet Service Speeds in Mexico

Telefonos de Mexico SAB, the telephone company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, is planning to quadruple Internet speeds for some parts of the country to as much as 20 megabits per second.

The company is extending fiber-optic lines closer to homes to boost download speeds, Andres Vazquez del Mercado, residential markets director, told reporters today in Mexico City. Most of Telmex’s 2010 investment budget of 10 billion pesos ($765 million) goes to Internet improvements, he said.

Telmex, the nation’s largest carrier of phone and Internet service, seeks to keep customers from switching to cable providers such as Megacable Holdings SAB that offer voice and Web plans. Telmex will begin boosting its top speed to 10 megabits by the end of the year, matching Megacable’s top speed, Vazquez del Mercado said.

“We’re positioning ourselves perfectly well to compete with the cable carriers,” he said.

The Mexico City-based company is testing the 20-megabit speed in three cities and hasn’t completed its plan to introduce it throughout the country, Vazquez del Mercado said.

Telmex gained 1 centavo to 9.20 pesos at 12:42 p.m. New York time in Mexico City trading. The shares have dropped 16 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Crayton Harrison in Mexico City at tharrison5@bloomberg.net.

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